American President George W. Bush has again exercised a built-in legal waiver in a 1995 Congressional law ordering that the American embassy be moved to Jerusalem. He signed the order on Friday night, after news organizations shut down most of their operations and after the Jewish Sabbath began.
He and previous presidents have exercised the waiver every six months, and this time it came days before Congress is likely to pass a toughly worded resolution reinforcing their will that the embassy be moved to the Israeli capital, as President Bush promised to do during his 2000 presidential campaign.
The waiver allows the President to delay the move if he deems it "necessary to protect the national security interests of the United States." President Bush added that he "remains committed to beginning the process of moving our embassy to Jerusalem."
He and previous presidents have exercised the waiver every six months, and this time it came days before Congress is likely to pass a toughly worded resolution reinforcing their will that the embassy be moved to the Israeli capital, as President Bush promised to do during his 2000 presidential campaign.
The waiver allows the President to delay the move if he deems it "necessary to protect the national security interests of the United States." President Bush added that he "remains committed to beginning the process of moving our embassy to Jerusalem."