

ivanka jared netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu/Facebook



Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December, fulfilling a campaign pledge and upending the status quo in the Middle East.

Monday's ceremony will be largely symbolic, as the new embassy building isn't ready yet — only a small interim embassy will start operating on Monday inside the existing US consulate building in Jerusalem.


Scroll down to see more photos of the visit.




They were joined by other senior US officials including Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan (second-left) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin (centre), and US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman (second-right), who greeted them upon their arrival.

Courtesy David Azagury/U.S. Embassy Tel Aviv/Handout via REUTERS

The city of Jerusalem was decked out with US and Israeli flags, and posters reading: "Trump is a friend of Zion."


Monday's ceremony will largely be symbolic, as the new embassy in Jerusalem isn't ready yet — only a small interim embassy inside the existing US consulate will start operating on Monday. Here's a sneak peek of the new, larger embassy being built.

The opening ceremony of the consulate was brought forward to coincide with the 70th anniversary of Israel's founding, the BBC reported.



Amir Cohen/Reuters

There they met up with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.



Amir Cohen/Reuters


Attendees included: John Sullivan (third-left of photo), Jared Kushner (second-left), Ivanka Trump (fifth-left), Steven Mnuchin (fifth-right), Sara Netanyahu (fourth-right), Benjamin Netanyahu (third-right), and David Friedman (second-right).
Benjamin Netanyahu/Twitter

Netanyahu tweeted in Hebrew on Monday: "What an exciting day for the people of Israel and the State of Israel! Once again, we were dreamers."


Ivanka thanked the Netanyahus for dinner, noting that she was "honored to join you and the US Delegation in commemorating the dedication of our new embassy and celebrating the friendship between our two countries."



A Palestinian man throws leaflets dropped by the Israeli military while protesting the US embassy move to Jerusalem.
REUTERS/Mohammed Salem


Palestinian critics see the Trump administration's recognising Jerusalem as the Israeli capital as backing Israeli control over the entire city.

Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority, called the US decision "the slap of the century."


"A great day for Israel!" the US president tweeted on Monday.

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