The Orthodox Union and the Jerusalem Embassy Efforts

I have determined that it is time to officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel since King David made it his capital 3,000 years ago Jerusalem has been the center of Jewish life Jewish longing and Jewish identity and now thanks to President Trump and his administration the promised move of the American Embassy to Jerusalem the eternal capital of Israel has finally been realized for almost 50 years the Orthodox Union has been working to have Jerusalem recognized as Israel's eternal undivided capital while continuously calling for the relocation of the US Embassy to Jerusalem beginning in 1972 at a dinner for the OU's NC sy youth program vice president Hubert Humphrey called on the United States to recognize Israel's capital Jerusalem the golden must be united and it must be recognized as the capital of Israel in 1982 the owe you became the first Jewish organization to formalize its commitment to the relocation of the US Embassy by passing a resolution during the 1990s the owe you amplified its campaign at every opportunity at an O you mission to Washington in 1991 senators Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Rudy Boschwitz unveiled the Senate resolution for the recognition of Jerusalem over the years with Congress to craft and pass legislation including the Jerusalem embassy Act of 1995 our goal to have the United States lead the way in the world's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital we personally lobby presidents Clinton Bush and Obama to move the American Embassy to Jerusalem we did not succeed then but we did not relent in the new millennium renewed calls to divide Jerusalem were met by an increasingly determined and vocal Orthodox Union in 2006 at its convention in Jerusalem the öyou adopts a policy resolution to a any attempt to divide Jerusalem 2007 the öyou meets with senior bush administration officials and presses the u.s. to reject any offers to divide Jerusalem and before prime minister a hood o Mert went to the Annapolis peace talks vo you requested and received a promise from him to keep Jerusalem undivided 2008 the owe you leads a march to the site of the proposed US Embassy in Jerusalem and urges president-elect Obama to relocate the u.s. embassy 2009 the o u supports a new jerusalem embassy act for the next several years the o you continued advocating through the media publishing articles that help keep the embassy move at the forefront 2015 the o u commend senators Ted Cruz and Dean Heller for introducing a renewed Jerusalem embassy act and as the new Trump administration began its transition oh you efficacy met with senior administration officials to once again present the case for relocating the u.s. embassy December 5th 2017 as the deadline looms for president Trump to sign the Jerusalem embassy Act waiver the Orthodox Union sends a letter to President Trump urging him to fulfill his campaign promise and on December 6th president Trump announces he will recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital the öyou was recognized as the tip of the spear in the effort to move the u.s. embassy while previous presidents have made this a major campaign promise they failed to deliver today I am delivering that is why consistent with the Jerusalem embassy Act I am also directing the State Department to begin preparation to move the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem the city of Jerusalem is the heart and soul of the Jewish people in our prayers to God three times a day the importance of Jerusalem is emphasized as it is in every Jewish life cycle event you thank the Almighty for bringing us to this day and as Americans we are so proud of our nation for giving full recognition to Jerusalem centrality to Israel and to the Jewish people and in particular we thank president Trump for understanding that Jerusalem has always been and shall always be the capital of Israel [Music]