When US President Donald Trump had announced that the US Embassy will shift to the Occupied Jerusalem, the Arab world was in an uproar.
But despite all the protests, Trump remained firm, not changing his mind on the decision.
And now the signposts directing towards the Embassy has gone up in the country.
Workmen on Monday put up street signs to the new US Embassy in Jerusalem, due to open in one week, a move hailed as historic by Israel but loathed by Palestinians.
Municipal workers erected signposts reading “US Embassy” in Hebrew, Arabic, and English around the site, currently a US consular building, in the city’s Arnona neighbourhood.
US President Donald Trump announced on December 6 the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the transfer of the embassy, located until now in Tel Aviv.
The embassy is to get a festive inauguration on Monday next week, to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel.
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Small in size, it will initially occupy part of the consular workspace pending planning and construction of a purpose-built embassy, a long-term project according to the US State Department.
Trump’s unilateral decision delighted the Israelis and enraged the Palestinians, who want to make the city the capital of their future state, and who say Trump’s decision ignores their demands.
The question of Jerusalem is one of the thorniest of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat had posted on Twitter the joyous news that included photos as well.
Here is the Twitter post:
This is not a dream – it’s reality! This morning, I installed the signs for the new #USembassy in #Jerusalem!
Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish people – and the world is beginning to recognize this fact!
Thank you @POTUS! pic.twitter.com/oSPwnCGKtu
— Mayor Nir Barkat (@NirBarkat) May 7, 2018
Israel considers the Trump declaration as recognition, albeit long delayed, of a historical fact.
To the Palestinians, it is indicative of what they say is the White House’s pro-Israel bias.
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Israel took control of East Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it.
Foreign embassies are currently located in Tel Aviv and its environs, as the international community has baulked at recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital until the status of the city is set via a peace deal with the Palestinians.
On December 6, Trump announced that the US would move its embassy to Jerusalem. Israel has expressed hope that other countries will follow suit, though the move was widely condemned in the international community.
Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales has said his country’s embassy will move to Jerusalem in May as well.
BREAKING!!- Paraguay will open its embassy in #Jerusalem until end of May ! President Cartes will open the embassy ! Wonderful news as the international recognition of #Jerusalem as #Israel’s capital gathers momentum. Gracias Paraguay por su amistad ?? ?? @IsraelMFA
— Emmanuel Nahshon (@EmmanuelNahshon) May 7, 2018
Paraguay is set to become the third country to transfer its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Emmanuel Nahshon said Paraguay President Horacio Cartes will travel to Israel later this month to open the country’s new embassy in the capital.
Cartes’s trip was scheduled for May 21 or May 22, a Paraguay government spokesman told an international news agency.
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