The United States officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital city of Israel on December 6, 2017. American president Donald Trump, who signed the presidential proclamation, also ordered the relocation of the American diplomatic mission to Israel, formerly located in Tel Aviv (see Embassy of the United States, Jerusalem). Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the U.S. recognition and praised the announcement by the Trump administration. On December 8, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson clarified that Trump's statement "did not indicate any final status for Jerusalem" and "was very clear that the final status, including the borders, would be left to the two parties to negotiate and decide" in reference to the move's impact on the Israeli–Palestinian peace process.
Trump's decision was rejected by the vast majority of world leaders; the United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting on December 7, where 14 out of 15 members condemned it, but the motion was overturned by U.S. veto power. The United Kingdom, France, Japan, Italy, and Sweden were among the countries who criticized Trump's decision at the meeting. Other countries supported the move; Guatemala affirmed their intent to issue follow-up recognition and relocate their embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, and the Czech Republic, Honduras, Paraguay, and Romania stated that they were also considering the same. Federica Mogherini, foreign policy chief of the European Union (EU), stated that all EU member states were united on the issue of Jerusalem — she reaffirmed the EU's firm stance on East Jerusalem being the capital of an independent Palestinian state. By late 2022, only Guatemala, Honduras, and Kosovo maintain diplomatic missions to Israel in Jerusalem; Paraguay reversed their 2018 embassy relocation from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem within months, and the Honduran foreign ministry has stated that they are considering a reversal of their embassy move to Jerusalem.
Palestinian officials said that the recognition and relocation disqualifies the U.S. from mediating peace talks, while Hamas called for the beginning of a new intifada against Israel in the aftermath of Trump's declaration. Following the U.S. announcement, there were demonstrations throughout the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, as well as in various countries around the world. By December 25, 2017, Salafist militants in the Gaza Strip had fired almost 30 rockets towards Israel; though almost half of the rockets landed within the Gaza Strip itself, two of them inflicted minor property damage in Israel, near the cities of Ashkelon and Sderot. In the aftermath of the attacks, Hamas reportedly arrested the perpetrating militants in an attempt to prevent an Israeli military response.
On February 23, 2018, the U.S. State Department announced that the new embassy would open in May that year. The embassy was officially opened in Jerusalem on May 14, 2018, coinciding with the 70th anniversary of the Israeli Declaration of Independence. Representatives from 32 countries were present at opening of the embassy, including EU members Austria, the Czech Republic, and Romania. Protests on the Gaza border were met with tear gas and sniper fire by the Israel Defence Forces, resulting in the deaths of at least 58 Palestinians, the highest single-day death toll since the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict. The IDF and the Israeli government defended the use of force as necessary due to rocks and explosives thrown by protesters. The location of the relocated embassy is at the site of the former U.S. consulate general in the Arnona neighborhood of West Jerusalem.
Background
After the founding of the State of Israel in 1949, the United States recognized the new state, but considered it desirable to establish an international regime for Jerusalem, with its final status resolved through negotiations. The US opposed Israel's declaration of Jerusalem as its capital in 1949 and opposed Jordan's plan to make Jerusalem its second capital announced in 1950. The US also opposed Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem after the 1967 war. The official United States position has been that the future of Jerusalem should be the subject of a negotiated settlement. Subsequent administrations have maintained the position that Jerusalem's future not be the subject of unilateral actions that could prejudice negotiations, such as by moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.