The delegation is headed by deputy secretary of state, John J. Sullivan, and includes Steve Mnuchin, Jared Kushner, and Ivanka Trump Kushner.

The opening of the embassy coincides with Jerusalem Day, the 51st anniversary of what Israel refers to as the city’s ‘unification’ following the 1967 war.

State Department Announcement:

The Embassy will initially be located in the Arnona neighborhood, in a modern building that now houses consular operations of U.S. Consulate General Jerusalem.

Those consular operations, including American citizen and visa services, will continue at the Arnona facility without interruption, as part of the Embassy. Consulate General Jerusalem will continue to operate as an independent mission with an unchanged mandate, from its historic Agron Road location.

Initially, the interim Embassy in Arnona will contain office space for the Ambassador and a small staff. By the end of next year, we intend to open a new Embassy Jerusalem annex on the Arnona compound that will provide the Ambassador and his team with expanded interim office space.

In parallel, we have started the search for a site for our permanent Embassy to Israel, the planning and construction of which will be a longer-term undertaking. We are excited about taking this historic step, and look forward with anticipation to the May opening.

Israelis wave national flags outside the Old City’s Damascus Gate, in Jerusalem, Sunday, May 13, 2018. Israel is marking the 51st anniversary of its capture of east Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East War. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Associated Press, Jerusalem

Israel on Sunday kicked off festivities to celebrate the opening of the new U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, even as it bolstered its forces along the Gaza border and in the West Bank in anticipation of mass Palestinian protests of the move.

A day before the embassy’s formal opening, Israel hosted a gala party at its Foreign Ministry with President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka, her husband, Jared Kushner, and other American VIPs.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump’s “bold decision” in upending decades of U.S. policy by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. “It’s the right thing to do,” a smiling Netanyahu told the jubilant crowd.

If photos are anything to go by, the decision by President Trump to relocate the embassy to Jerusalem is a very popular one. Perhaps we should call him our “First Jewish President”!

US President Donald J. Trump (L) and Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu