The US Senate has reaffirmed its support for the American embassy being located in Jerusalem.

Opposition to any attempt to move the embassy from Jerusalem was expressed in an amendment to the COVID-19 budget on February 5, according to The Hill. The news site noted that the measure was non-binding. The Jerusalem Post said the amendment was "largely viewed as symbolic" because President Joe Biden had previously said he would not move the embassy.

In compliance with the Congressional 1995 US Embassy Act, then-President Donald Trump moved the embassy to Jerusalem in 2018, the Jerusalem Post noted.

As a senator, Biden had voted for the act, the newspaper added.

Three Democratic Senators Dissent

Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who had both vied with Biden for the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party, voted against the amendment, according to the Jerusalem Post. The third senator to oppose the measure was Tom Carper of Delaware, the newspaper said.

Blinken: Embassy Belongs in Jerusalem

The Hill recalled that Secretary of State Antony Blinken had been asked about the embassy during his senate confirmation hearing.

In response to questions from Senator Ted Cruz, Blinken had said he regarded Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and he was committed to keeping the US embassy there.

The Jerusalem Post pointed out that the amendment had been introduced by two Republican senators, Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee. The newspaper quoted Hagerty as saying that his proposal "should not be controversial to anyone." He recalled the senate passing similar measures by wide margins in 1995 and 2017, the paper said.

Hagerty Wants More

On the day after passage of the amendment, Hagerty sent a letter to Biden calling upon the president to state publicly that he would not move the embassy. An online video shared by France 24 quotes Biden, as a presidential candidate, saying he would not relocate the embassy.

The Hill said it had seen Hagerty's letter to Biden.

According to the news site, Hagerty wrote that his request was easy to fulfill and "should not require any deliberation." Hagerty, a freshman senator and former ambassador to Japan, also urged the president to further develop the Abraham Accords which the previous administration had helped negotiate between Israel and some Arab states.

The Jerusalem Post quoted Inhofe as emphasizing that, for 25 years, Americans had wanted their embassy to be in Jerusalem. According to the paper, Hagerty said the presence of the embassy in the Israeli capital was "paving the way for peace across the region."
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