U.S. President Donald Trump was forced to once again sign a waiver of the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Act despite having successfully transferred the Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem last month.
The reason: not all requirements under the Act have yet been met.
Every U.S. president has signed the six-month waiver since 1995 in order to avoid moving the embassy to Jerusalem. President Trump kept his campaign promise to move the embassy to Israel’s capital, but legally had to sign the waiver due to the laundry list of things remaining to be completed under the Act.
A major requirement is the official residence of the U.S. Ambassador to Israel must be located in Jerusalem.
Current Ambassador David Friedman does, in fact, own an apartment in Jerusalem, but since it is his privately-owned residence, that cannot be considered an official government residence.
The current embassy in Jerusalem is considered a temporary facility until a permanent one can be built.