Wiesenthal Center ‘Very Disappointed’ After Trump Delays Israel Embassy Move

Rabbi Marvin Hier Image by Getty Images

By Josh Nathan-Kazis June 2, 2017

After the end of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot on Thursday night, which kept observant Jews offline, condemnations of President Trump’s announcement that he would not immediately move the U.S. embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem began to flow in.

The first comes from the Simon Wiesenthal Center, whose leader, Rabbi Marvin Hier, has been a Trump defender.

“The Simon Wiesenthal Center is very disappointed by President Trump’s decision to delay transfer of the US Embassy to Jerusalem,” the group said in a statement. “We are certain that the Trump Administration is very well aware that no Israeli Prime Minister will ever cede sovereignty over Jerusalem. The city is and will remain the undivided capital of Israel.”

Like presidents before him, Trump had promised during the campaign to move the embassy. And like presidents before him, he reneged on the promise. Diplomatic and security experts say that moving the embassy could inflame regional tensions.

Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at [email protected] or on Twitter, @joshnathankazis.

Josh Nathan-Kazis is a staff writer for the Forward. He covers charities and politics, and writes investigations and longform.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO