Israel Matzav

And again: Obama not committed to moving US embassy to Jerusalem

On June 1, President Obama once again invoked a 'national security' waiver to avoid having to move the United States embassy to Jerusalem as required by a law passed overwhelmingly passed by Congress (Hat Tip: MFS - The Other Side).

Obama’s waiver, issued June 1, follows in the footsteps of predecessors Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, who also extended the waiver every six months since a law was passed in 1995 mandating moving the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Presidents are permitted to delay the move on national security grounds.

Yes, every President since Bill Clinton has issued those waivers every six months. But if Obama's waiver this time was true to form, it's a bit different from the waivers issued by Clinton and Bush.

While this waiver was given every six months by the Clinton and Bush administrations, James Robbins points out in the Corner that the Obama administration did something slightly different.

Nearly identical memos like this have been issued every six months for a decade. Standard procedure, no big deal, right? Well in the Bush years the memo contained the sentence, "My Administration remains committed to beginning the process of moving our embassy to Jerusalem." The Obama team edited that passage out.

And in fact, Obama continues to omit the sentence that reflects a commitment to move the embassy to Jerusalem.

I hereby determine that it is necessary, in order to protect the national security interests of the United States, to suspend for a period of 6 months the limitations set forth in sections 3(b) and 7(b) of the Act. You are authorized and directed to transmit this determination to the Congress, accompanied by a report in accordance with section 7(a) of the Act, and to publish the determination in the Federal Register. This suspension shall take effect after the transmission of this determination and report to the Congress. BARACK OBAMA

So unlike Bush (and maybe even Clinton), Obama has no commitment to move the embassy to Jerusalem. At least he's consistent. Consistently wrong.

Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Jerusalem Embassy Act, Jerusalem is the capital of Israel

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:57 PM