At a time when Israel is facing mounting diplomatic pressure and international criticism, the scene in Jerusalem\u2019s Safra Square looked strikingly different. Ambassadors and senior diplomats from dozens of countries gathered for a Sukkot reception hosted by Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion and his wife, Stavit, creating an unusual pocket of diplomatic normality in the heart of the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The reception brought together representatives from the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, Japan, the Czech Republic, Argentina and many other countries. The contrast was difficult to ignore: outside the sukkah, Israel continues to face serious diplomatic disputes; inside it, representatives from East and West stood together in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the Jerusalem Municipality, the gathering included ambassadors and senior diplomats from the Vatican, Australia, Austria, South Korea, Chile, Georgia, the Philippines, Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Zambia and South Sudan. Deputy ambassadors from India and Greece also attended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The guest list made the event particularly notable. It did not erase Israel\u2019s broader diplomatic difficulties, but it offered a different picture: despite tensions with governments around the world, formal diplomatic ties with many countries remain active.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee used the event to discuss plans for a permanent American embassy complex in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe recently completed the arrangement to acquire a property here in Jerusalem that will become the new embassy compound,\u201d Huckabee said. \u201cSoon we will lay the cornerstone and begin construction of the US Embassy, which will become our permanent home, instead of being scattered across the State of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Huckabee stressed that he viewed the project as more than a construction initiative. \u201cThis is the commitment of the United States and of us, as Israel\u2019s partner, to leave a permanent mark on this city, so that there will be no way that someone in the future can come and try to move us out of Jerusalem, the place where we belong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion used the gathering to call on additional countries to move their embassies to the Israeli capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJerusalem is the capital of Israel, that is a historical fact,\u201d Lion noted. \u201cNine countries have already established their embassies here. We welcome them, and we hope that your countries will be next.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lion also linked the diplomatic reception to the symbolism of Sukkot. \u201cThis sukkah represents the Jerusalem we are proud of: open, welcoming and diverse,\u201d he said. \u201cTogether, we pray to the Creator and ask Him for what Jerusalem, Israel and the entire world need more than anything: \u2018Spread over us Your sukkah of peace.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For several hours, at least, the diplomatic tensions surrounding Israel appeared to remain outside the sukkah. The gathering in Safra Square did not necessarily reflect Israel\u2019s overall international standing, but it created a rare diplomatic bubble in Jerusalem at a moment when that contrast was especially visible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
At a time when Israel is facing mounting diplomatic pressure and international criticism, the scene in Jerusalem\u2019s Safra Square looked strikingly different. Ambassadors and senior diplomats from dozens of countries gathered for a Sukkot reception hosted by Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion and his wife, Stavit, creating an unusual pocket of diplomatic normality in the heart […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":185462,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"9320","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_seopress_news_disabled":"","_seopress_video_disabled":"","_seopress_video":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas_manual":[],"_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable_all":"","_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,184,68],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-185461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking","category-184","category-68"],"acf":{"subtitle":"Against the backdrop of Israel\u2019s growing diplomatic isolation, ambassadors from dozens of countries gathered at the Jerusalem mayor\u2019s sukkah in Safra Square"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=185461"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185461\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":185464,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185461\/revisions\/185464"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/185462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=185461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=185461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=185461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}