United States President George W. Bush again signed a six-month waiver of a law which bans the presence of the Palestine Liberation Organization terrorist group in Washington, D.C.
The law was based on anti-terrorist legislation dating back to the 1980’s, but has been routinely waived since the Oslo process in 1993.
Bush sent the renewed waiver to Congress on Wednesday, the day before the funeral in Beirut of Hizbullah arch-terrorist chieftain Imad Mughniyeh, who spent 25 years on the FBI’s “20 Most Wanted” list.
The American President also signed another routine six-month waiver, this one postponing the relocation of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
President Bush had promised that his first step on taking office in 2001 would be to move the embassy to Israel’s capital.
In less than a month after Bush entered the White House, then-US Secretary of State Colin Powell reneged on Bush’s campaign promise, citing tension and violence in the area. Powell rejected attempts to pin him down on exactly when the embassy would relocate to Jerusalem.
The new Bush administration’s National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice also stalled, saying the new administration was still committed to the move, but could not say when it would take place.
On June 12, 2001 President Bush issued the second of what would become a series of semi-annual “routine” waivers to delay the embassy’s relocation to Jerusalem. His predecessor, former President Bill Clinton, had carried out the same practice.
The US embassy has remained in Tel Aviv up to the present time. Observers have noted that the delay of moving the US embassy to Jerusalem calls into question US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
Bush’s term in office will end January 15, 2009, leaving him two more opportunities to fulfill his promise to the American Jewish community and the People of Israel.