Plans Approved for US Embassy Campus in Jerusalem

In an important step toward building the permanent United States embassy in Jerusalem, the city’s planning committee has approved the proposed plans. This step is important from both practical and political standpoints. It provides U.S. citizens essential services as well as foreign citizens who require embassy services with things such as visas and documentation. However, this also shores up the recognition that Jerusalem is in fact Israel’s eternal unified capital.

Photo for illustrative purposes only. Photo Credit: Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs [License]

US Embassy in Jerusalem gets further construction approval

Article Courtesy: Jerusalem Post

The Jerusalem Regional Planning Committee approved plans to expand the US Embassy in Jerusalem on Monday.

The plans are now open to objections and then the municipal committee, which already approved the plans, will review any proposed changes.

The approved plan for a project to be completed by 2026 includes two properties, the embassy’s current location in Arnona – which would expand to five floors – and a ten-story building in the nearby Allenby area, or northern Arnona. The second property could include the ambassador’s residence, staff housing, a recreation center and other diplomatic uses.

The new embassy campus would have 630 office workers, 400 of whom are meant to be locals, and 450 non-office workers, 380 of whom would be locals.

Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum said: “We are thrilled that after two years of careful planning and coordination, the regional committee for building and planning has approved the plans.

“The new US embassy compound and the development of the current one will bring jobs to the neighborhood and economic development to the South part of the city,” she said. “I also envision an embassy district in the area with the US embassy as its anchor.”

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