Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Monday that moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem is “the right thing to do.”
“This is the capital of Israel. Israel is one of our closest partners. Israel is absolutely fighting terrorism with us,” Mr. Mnuchin said on Fox News.
President Trump decided to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv, where the current embassy resides, to Jerusalem since Israel claims the city as its capital. Palestinians claim ownership of the eastern half of the city and were angered by Mr. Trump’s actions, but Mr. Mnuchin said Israel deserves the respect of having their capital recognized.
“The issue here is with every other country in the world, we recognize having the embassy in their capital, and this is the capital,” Mr. Mnuchin said.
He added that despite the current conflict surrounding the move, Mr. Trump does want peace in the region. Protests in Israel were already ongoing this week for the anniversary of the establishment of Israel on May 14.
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
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