(JTA) — The Orthodox Union has started an online petition calling on President-elect Donald Trump to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv.
The move would recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s “chosen capital,” the O.U. petition on Change.org says. It also notes that June 2017 will mark the 50th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem.
Trump pledged during the 2016 campaign to move the embassy to Jerusalem.
On Monday morning, the petition by the umbrella group for Orthodox synagogues and organizations had more than 1,200 signers out of a goal of 1,500.
“Early in your presidency will be a fitting, if overdue, time for you, President-Elect Donald Trump, to relocate the American embassy in Israel to the capital of the Jewish state,” the petition to be sent to Trump concludes.
Earlier this month, President Barack Obama signed a waiver to prevent moving the embassy to Jerusalem. It was the eighth time that Obama signed the waiver, which must be renewed every six months.
Congress passed a law in 1995 mandating the move of the embassy to Jerusalem, but allowed the president to exercise a waiver, citing the national security interests of the United States. Obama’s predecessors George W. Bush and Bill Clinton also signed the waiver.
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