On Dec 4, President Obama signed a new Memorandum suspending funds for embassy use and maintenance under the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995. This memorandum, tied to the U.S. embassy in Israel moving from Tel Aviv, and for the recognition of Jerusalem as an Israeli capital, comes days after the United Nations vote to recognize Palestine as a observer nation.

Additionally, these actions by the President come less than a week after Palestinian President Abbas declared that Jerusalem was now and forever the capital of a Palestinian state