A confrontation between the Israel Land Authority (RMI) and the Ministry of Finance is delaying the delivery of the plot of land designated for the construction of the American embassy in Jerusalem, Israel Today has learned.
According to a 1988 agreement between Remi and the Americans, in exchange for evacuating the area on Hayarkon Street, where the current embassy is located, Remi will allocate to the administration an alternative area in Jerusalem, the "Allenby Complex."
But the Americans wanted to get the compound in Jerusalem even before they evacuated the area on Hayarkon Street, due to difficulties involved in building the new embassy.
Rami agreed to cut off between handing over the land in Jerusalem and receiving the plot on Hayarkon Street, but since the value of the plot reaches hundreds of millions of shekels, they demanded that the Ministry of Finance compensate the authority from the state budget for the loss of income.
In response to "Israel Today", the Ministry of Finance stated: "Discounts on the allocation of real estate are budgeted from the RMI budget.
These days, the possibility of moving to budgeting discounts in the state budget is being examined, including the budget for handing over the land to the Americans. "The ministry could not say whether and when the policy would be changed and the problem would be solved.
The transfer procedure is stuck
On the other hand, Rami refuses to release the land of the Allenby complex, until the source of the payment on the area on Hayarkon Street is determined with certainty, and therefore the process of transferring the land is stuck until the dispute is resolved.
The Rami claim that the delay in handing over the plot does not prevent the Americans from continuing with the planning of the new structure, and that if the political echelon orders them to waive the demand for payment - they will do so.
According to American sources, the construction of the embassy is expected to take about ten years, and cost a billion dollars.
Since Trump's decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, there have been many discussions within the administration about where to locate it.
The United States has two plots of land in the south of the city: the Allenby compound and the former Diplomat Hotel.
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