US senators introduce bill to recognize Quds as Israel’s capital

Three US senators have introduced legislation that would commit the US government to moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to the occupied al-Quds (‘Jerusalem’), a move US presidents have opposed for decades but which President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly signaled he is willing to do.

Firebrand Senators Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Dean Heller proposed the Jerusalem Embassy and Recognition Act on Tuesday, the first day the new Congress convened on Capitol Hill as Republicans prepare to control the White House, Senate and House of Representatives for the first time since 2007.

The measure is similar to a 1995 resolution, led by former House speaker and current Trump confidant Newt Gingrich, that called to move the embassy.

It was immediately dismissed by then-president Bill Clinton, who wanted the future status of the occupied city settled in final negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.

Clinton and his two successors — presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama — have repeatedly used the prerogative granted them to delay implementation of a Congressional demand, passed in a 1995 law, to move the embassy.

But with an incoming president who has indicated he will break with these practices, those pushing for the relocation believe the White House may no longer impede the move.