07 May 2018•Update: 08 May 2018
By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON
U.S. President Donald Trump's daughter and advisor Ivanka and her husband and Trump's senior advisor, Jared Kushner, will attend the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced Monday the delegation that will attend the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem next week.
Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan will lead the delegation that will include Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Ambassador to Israel David M. Friedman. Jason Greenblatt, the president's chief representative for Middle East peace negotiations, will also attend.
Trump has been coy as to whether or not he would attend the ceremony, and Monday's statement did not list him as an attendee indicating he will not make an appearance.
Earlier Monday, Saeb Erekat, the secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), called on diplomats and civil society organizations to boycott next week’s inauguration ceremony.
The statement announcing Trump's decision listed the embassy's opening in "Jerusalem, Israel", the first known time the disputed city has been clearly listed as Israeli territory in an official U.S. statement after Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December.
The U.S. intends to officially relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on May 14 to coincide with the 70th anniversary of Israel’s establishment in 1948 -- an event Palestinians refer to as the “Nakba” or the “The Catastrophe”.
Trump sparked international outcry when he unilaterally recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital and vowed to relocate Washington's embassy to the city.
Jerusalem remains at the heart of the Palestine-Israel conflict, with Palestinians seeking East Jerusalem -- occupied by Israel since 1967 -- as the capital of an independent Palestinian state.
