US and Israel Sign 99-Year $1 Lease for Permanent US Embassy Compound in Jerusalem

The United States and Israel signed a 99-year lease agreement allocating land for a permanent US embassy compound in Jerusalem, with the lease priced at $1.

US Ambassador Mike Huckabee said, "The lease agreement for the land is for 99 years and the United States will pay Israel the sum of $1," during the signing ceremony that included Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar and Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion.

Al Jazeera

The agreement was formalized at the Foreign Ministry, where Huckabee described the deal as "deepening and expanding our presence in Jerusalem" as the US receives the property for the future embassy complex.

The deal follows the US move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in 2018 after then-President Donald Trump recognized the city as Israel’s capital in December 2017, and the embassy’s temporary site opened in May 2018.

Rights groups and Israeli legal critics say the land allocated for the embassy was confiscated from Palestinian families under Israel’s 1950 Absentees’ Property Law.

Adalah said archival documents show the land belonged to Palestinian families before 1948 and that the transfer violates Article 46 of the Hague Regulations, which prohibits the confiscation of private property.

Algemeiner

The United Nations considers East Jerusalem occupied Palestinian territory and says measures aimed at changing the character or legal status of the city have no legal effect under international law.

In parallel, the Oz Arab Media account frames the $1 lease as a setback for the aspirations of a future Palestinian capital, describing the symbolic and political implications as raising concerns among Palestinian leaders and supporters.

Separate reporting on US posture in the region says the US embassy in Israel urged its nationals to consider leaving the country as long as commercial flights remain available.

“Israel grants US confiscated Palestinian land to build Jerusalem embassy complex for $1 ‘The lease agreement for the land is for 99 years and the United States will pay Israel the sum of $1,’ US ambassador to Israel says Abdel Raouf Arnaout 01 July 2026•Update: 01 July 2026 JERUSALEM Israel and the US signed an agreement on Wednesday under which Washington will receive a plot of land once owned by Palestinians in Jerusalem for $1 to build the permanent site of the US Embassy in the city”

Anadolu Ajansı

Ouest-France reported that the embassy said the movements of American staff and their families could be limited "In response to security incidents and without notice," and that the US urged nonessential staff at its Jerusalem embassy to leave Israel.

The same account tied the warning to American threats of strikes in Iran and cited a third round of talks in Geneva under Omani mediation between Iran and the United States.

It also quoted the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk saying he was "extremely concerned about the risk of regional military escalation," while Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi urged the United States to avoid 'excessive demands' in the discussions.