Neither President Donald Trump nor Vice President Mike Pence will be in attendance when the U.S. opens its embassy in Jerusalem next week, the White House said Monday.
Trump surprised Jerusalem two weeks ago when he said he was considering attending the embassy's ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 14.
The American president is instead sending a high-level delegation to the ceremony marking the United State's formal recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
Trump ordered the move in December, fulfilling a key campaign promise but drawing condemnation from many U.S. allies and the Arab world, who said the move would make it more difficult to achieve peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
The delegation is set to comprise Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who will be the most senior member of the group, Trump's daughter Ivanka and her husband, senior adviser Jared Kushner, U.S. Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt and U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman.
A number of Israeli dignitaries are also expected to attend the festive event in Jerusalem's Arnona neighborhood at the building currently housing the U.S. consulate, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"We have invited around 800 guests, including religious and business leaders, journalists, academics and government representatives from the United States. We have also invited several Israeli government representatives and political leaders to attend," an embassy official said Monday.
"Given that the focus of the event is on U.S.-Israel relations, we did not extend an invitation to the foreign diplomatic corps," he said.
In preparation of the event, the Jerusalem Municipality began putting up road signs pointing to the "U.S. Embassy," replacing signs for the consulate.
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat put up one of the signs himself.
"This is not a dream – this is reality," he said in a statement. "I thank President Trump for making this historic moment come to fruition. Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish people and the world is beginning to recognize that fact."
Barkat has also decided to honor Trump by calling the roundabout leading to the embassy after the 45th president.
"The president has decided to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish people, to stand by historical truth and to do the right thing," Barkat said. "This is Jerusalem's way of showing its appreciation to Trump and the American people, who stand by Israel."
Also on Monday, in preparation for the move, the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv changed its Twitter handle to @usembassyjlm, announcing the change with a tweet.
