Treasury secretary to head massive U.S. delegation to embassy ceremony
Some 40 senators are expected to be part of the delegation, many congressmen, and the heads of major American Jewish organizations.
By GIL HOFFMANUpdated: APRIL 23, 2018 17:56Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon(photo credit: MATTY STERN/US EMBASSY TEL AVIV)
United States Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will head a delegation of some 250 American officials and Jewish leaders at a ceremony inaugurating the United States Embassy in Jerusalem on May 14, Channel 10 reported Sunday night.US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and Vice President Mike Pence had both indicated they might attend, however, according to the report, the delegation will be headed by Mnuchin. He will be accompanied by US President Donald Trump’s senior adviser Jared Kushner and Kushner’s wife, Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and adviser.The report did not say whether Haley would be coming.Some 40 senators are expected to join the delegation, along with congressmen and the heads of major American Jewish organizations.Trump announced with great fanfare on December 6 that he would relocate the embassy, which will temporarily be located in the current American consulate in Jerusalem’s Arnona neighborhood.Immediately after the US Embassy is relocated to Jerusalem, Guatemala will follow suit, President Jimmy Morales announced at last month’s AIPAC policy conference. After that, Honduras will move its embassy, becoming the third country to do so.Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila confirmed on Friday that his government had approved moving its embassy to Jerusalem. But under Romanian law, the final say on embassy relocation belongs to President Klaus Iohannis, who has spoken out against the move.Dancila is scheduled to arrive in Israel on Wednesday and meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely met with Dancila in Romania on April 10 in what her office described as the first leg of a campaign to persuade countries to move their embassies to the capital.Hotovely told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday that as part of that campaign, she will fly to Prague on Thursday to meet with Czech Republic President Miloš Zeman.
