--- title: Donald Trump's Ambassador to Israel Recognizes Jerusalem as Capital description: Donald Trump's ambassador to Israel said he recognizes Jerusalem as the nation's capital, breaking with longstanding U.S. foreign policy. canonical: https://time.com/4604603/donald-trump-david-friedman-jerusalem/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-16T12:27:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:54:50.511Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump's Ambassador to Israel Recognizes Jerusalem as Capital og:description: Donald Trump's ambassador to Israel said he recognizes Jerusalem as the nation's capital, breaking with longstanding U.S. foreign policy. og:url: https://time.com/4604603/donald-trump-david-friedman-jerusalem/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt65c1745897cbaf23/6988b336196cf4722903e4d3/donald-trump-isreal.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Trump og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump's Ambassador to Israel Recognizes Jerusalem as Capital twitter:description: Donald Trump's ambassador to Israel said he recognizes Jerusalem as the nation's capital, breaking with longstanding U.S. foreign policy. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt65c1745897cbaf23/6988b336196cf4722903e4d3/donald-trump-isreal.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump's Ambassador to Israel Recognizes Jerusalem as Capital ## Video: Trump: Jerusalem Will Be Recognized as Israel’s Undivided Capital [Watch (HLS stream): Trump: Jerusalem Will Be Recognized as Israel’s Undivided Capital](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/bjOUa0Rp.m3u8) (0:47)  _Published 2016-09-26. Donald Trump has told Israeli prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that as President of the United States, he would recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s undivided capital._  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Dec 16, 2016 12:27 PM UTC  President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a rally at the Giant Center, on Dec. 15, 2016, in Hershey, Pa. President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a rally at the Giant Center, on Dec. 15, 2016, in Hershey, Pa.Matt Rourke—AP  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Dec 16, 2016 12:27 PM UTC Donald Trump’s choice for ambassador to Israel said he recognizes Jerusalem as the nation’s capital, breaking with longstanding U.S. foreign policy. David Friedman, a bankruptcy lawyer, said in a statement that as ambassador he would work to “strengthen the unbreakable bond between our two countries and advance the cause of peace within the region, and look forward to doing this from the U.S. embassy in Israel’s eternal capital, Jerusalem,” [_Reuters_ reports](https://timeinc.slack.com/messages/the-news-desk/). The United States and most other countries in the world do not accept Jerusalem as Israel’s capital because of complications over the city’s status; Israel established itself in West Jerusalem in 1948 and then annexed East Jerusalem after the 1967 Six Day War. Most foreign embassies, including that of the United States, are currently located in Tel Aviv. During his presidential campaign, [Trump also told](http://time.com/4507432/donald-trump-israel-jerusalem-capital-netanyahu/?iid=sr-link1) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he would recognize Jerusalem as the capital, and promised to move the embassy from its 68-year home in Tel Aviv. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4604603/donald-trump-david-friedman-jerusalem/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4604603/donald-trump-david-friedman-jerusalem/"},"headline":"Donald Trump's Ambassador to Israel Recognizes Jerusalem as Capital","datePublished":"2016-12-16T12:27:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:54:50.511Z","description":"David Friedman wants to move the U.S. Embassy to the disputed city","url":"https://time.com/4604603/donald-trump-david-friedman-jerusalem/","keywords":["Donald Trump","Foreign Policy","Israel","White House","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt65c1745897cbaf23/6988b336196cf4722903e4d3/donald-trump-isreal.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt65c1745897cbaf23/6988b336196cf4722903e4d3/donald-trump-isreal.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Trump","caption":"Trump","creditText":"Matt Rourke—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4604603/donald-trump-david-friedman-jerusalem/","name":"Donald Trump's Ambassador to Israel Recognizes Jerusalem as Capital"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Trump: Jerusalem Will Be Recognized as Israel’s Undivided Capital","description":"Donald Trump has told Israeli prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that as President of the United States, he would recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s undivided capital.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/bjOUa0Rp/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-09-26T19:44:04.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/bjOUa0Rp.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4604603/donald-trump-david-friedman-jerusalem/","duration":"PT47S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4604603/donald-trump-david-friedman-jerusalem/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```