President Bush extended a delay on moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem for another six months.
“I hereby determine that it is necessary to protect the national security interests of the United States to suspend for a period of six months” the embassy move mandated in a 1995 law, Bush said Wednesday in a memorandum to Condoleezza Rice, the U.S. secretary of state. “My administration remains committed to beginning the process of moving our embassy to Jerusalem.”
Bush and his predecessor, President Clinton, have routinely exercised their prerogative to delay the move, citing the difficulties such an action would impose on Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking.
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