By TPS-IL • July 1, 2026
Jerusalem, 1 July, 2026 (TPS-IL) —
Israel and the United States signed a land agreement Wednesday for the future permanent home of the US Embassy in Jerusalem, moving forward a process launched nearly a decade ago when President Donald Trump first recognized the city as Israel’s capital.
Foreign Minister Gideon Saar and US Ambassador Mike Huckabee signed the deal at a ceremony at the Foreign Ministry, with Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion also in attendance. The agreement allocates the Allenby Compound as the site for the new embassy complex, replacing the current temporary facility.
The signing comes ahead of the 250th anniversary of American independence — a timing Huckabee noted was not lost on him.
“There is meaning to the fact that this milestone is being marked on the eve of the 250th anniversary of American independence,” Huckabee said. “The Judeo-Christian values that inspired America’s Founding Fathers have their origins in Jerusalem and throughout the Land of Israel.”
Huckabee described the planned facility as a compound that would be “magnificent and impressive” and said it would deepen Washington’s presence in the city.
Saar framed the agreement in strategic as well as symbolic terms, calling Israel “the most important strategic asset of the United States in the Middle East” and arguing the alliance serves both countries’ core interests.
“President Trump’s historic decision to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem was an act of historic justice,” Saar said. “Today, with the signing of the agreement for construction of the embassy’s permanent home, that decision is further anchored for future generations.”
Lion said the moment marked a transition from declaration to reality. “President Trump’s historic decision is today officially moving from paper to stone,” he said. “Jerusalem was and will always be our eternal capital, and today we are tangibly anchoring the US Embassy on its doorstep.”
Trump first ordered the embassy’s relocation in December 2017. The embassy opened in a temporary facility in 2018, but a permanent compound has yet to be built. Wednesday’s land agreement is a prerequisite for construction to begin.
