Trump to address new US embassy opening in Israel by video
President Donald Trump will address the opening ceremony of US embassy in the occupied city of Jerusalem al-Quds by video on Monday, according to a senior official.
Trump will talk to around 800 US and Israeli dignitaries, however, it was not clear whether he would speak via a live videolink or a pre-recorded address.
In December 2017, Trump officially declared the holy city as Israel's capital, triggering widespread Palestinian and global condemnation.
US staff at the mission in Tel Aviv had just marked its last day as an embassy, the official said, noting that the ambassador's team would start work on Monday at the new embassy.
"I think we're all very happy and excited to be participating in such an historic event. People have been working, really around the clock and getting ready for our opening dedication ceremony on Monday. We'll be ready," AFP quoted the official as saying.
"We're expecting around 800 people," he said, adding that an "healthy number" of guests from the Congress would participate in the event along with the previously announced US presidential delegation.
Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan will lead the delegation which will include Trump's daughter Ivanka, her husband and senior White House aide Jared Kushner, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
"The president, from my side of things, will be addressing the audience by video," the official said.
In April, Trump said he had no regrets about the decision to move the American embassy in Tel Aviv to the disputed city.
The move was a major shift by Washington that overturned decades of US foreign policy as none of previous US presidents, who had promised to do so while running for election, could deliver on their promises.
The United Nations General Assembly on December 21 overwhelmingly voted in favor of a resolution that calls on the US to withdraw its controversial recognition of Jerusalem al-Quds as the Israeli capital.
Washington, however, says the diplomatic mission will be relocated from Tel Aviv to al-Quds next month to coincide with the anniversary of the day in 1948 when Israel was proclaimed as an entity after a catastrophic war with Arab nations.
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