Trending 
The United States has signed an agreement to construct a permanent embassy compound in Jerusalem, a move Israel says reinforces the longstanding alliance between the two countries.
The agreement was signed on Wednesday at Israel’s foreign ministry, where US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said the project reflected Washington’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Huckabee said the United States would establish a permanent diplomatic headquarters in the city, describing the new embassy complex as the centre of future American diplomatic operations in Israel. He also argued that Jerusalem’s status as the Jewish people’s capital had long predated modern political decisions.
Honored to stand with Foreign Minister @GidonSaar to sign the lease for America’s permanent new Embassy complex in the heart of Jerusalem. This is a concrete realization of @POTUS’s courageous decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s ancient, eternal, and undivided capital. pic.twitter.com/O3c8c2fqDC
— Ambassador Mike Huckabee (@USAmbIsrael) July 1, 2026
“The United States not only recognises Jerusalem as the eternal, indigenous, and forever capital of the Jewish people, but also that the United States says that we’re going to do something about it,” Huckabee said.
“We are going to plant our flag, our American flag, on the soil of Jerusalem for a permanent and a brand new embassy compound that will serve as our mothership of diplomatic activities here in Israel.
“I would say God made that decision 3,800 years ago, and we finally got around to acknowledging what had been determined long before the United States of America came along,” he added.
The new embassy will be built at the Allenby compound in southern Jerusalem.
During his first term, US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2017 and ordered the relocation of the US embassy from Tel Aviv.
Since then, embassy operations have been spread across several locations in Jerusalem while a permanent site was being secured.
Trump’s decision marked a major shift in longstanding US policy, under which Jerusalem’s final status was expected to be determined through negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.
Jerusalem remains one of the most disputed cities in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel captured East Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and later declared the city its undivided capital, a claim that has not gained broad international recognition. Palestinians seek East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.
Because of the competing claims, most countries have maintained their embassies in Tel Aviv, arguing that Jerusalem’s status should be resolved through peace negotiations in line with international law and relevant United Nations resolutions.
Israel’s Foreign Minister, Gideon Sa’ar, said the embassy project showed the “unbreakable alliance” between the United States and Israel.
He said Trump’s 2017 decision to relocate the embassy had corrected what he described as a longstanding anomaly, while the construction of a permanent complex would further cement that decision.
“President Trump’s historic decision in 2017 to move the embassy to Jerusalem set the record straight,” he said at the signing ceremony.
“And today, with the agreement to begin building a permanent embassy complex, that decision becomes even deeper and more enduring,” Gideon Sa’ar said.
In a separate post on X( formerly Twitter), Huckabee described Israel as a vital partner for the United States and its strategic interests in the Middle East.
The agreement comes months after the United States and Israel conducted joint military operations against Iran, and follows reported tensions between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over efforts to end the conflict with Tehran.
