On Jan. 4, 2017, U.S. GOP senators Joseph Heller, Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz introduced to Congress legislation that will decrease the security of U.S. embassies around the world if the American embassy in Israel isn’t moved to Jerusalem, reports the Intercept.
The move would put many international State Department employees at risk. According to the Intercept,
The bill would immediately cut in half funding for embassy security, construction, and maintenance until the relocation occurs. In fiscal years 2018 and 2019, it would cut off all security, construction, and maintenance funding worldwide except for the embassy in Tel Aviv until it is relocated.
It wasn’t long ago that Rubio and Cruz criticized the Obama administration for the deaths of four Americans, including Chris Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya, in a terrorist attack on a U.S. consulate in Benghazi.
“Congress and the Executive Branch need to work together to do everything possible to make sure something like this does not happen again,” said Rubio in June 2016.
“Our brave men and women who continue to put their lives on the line every day in similar, dangerous situations deserve to know we are doing everything possible not only to protect them in the event of a terrorist attack, but also to deter these attacks from happening again,” said Cruz, eight months after the Benghazi attack.
Heller, Rubio, and Cruz’s desired move of the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem is an effort to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Doing so would invite Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to declare Jerusalem an undivided capital of Israel, denying Palestinians the right to include East Jerusalem as part of their land, and dismantling the chance for peace through a two-state solution.
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