By Christine Darg
Jerusalem Channel
As one of my Israeli friends remarked in this historic week here in Israel’s capital, the euphoria over the relocation of the U.S. Embassy to the nation’s capital is, for many,  the closest excitement since the birth of the nation in 1948 and the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967.
 
To celebrate, political and religious leaders from Israel, the US and Guatemala gathered in the Knesset to mark the moving of the American and Guatemalan embassies to Jerusalem. The atmosphere was heady and electric with hope.
MK Yehuda Glick told us that many Israeli politicians wondered why G-d was mentioned throughout the amazing dedication ceremony of the new U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, but it was like a religious service because it was all about doing the right thing and recognising the supremacy of the G-d of Israel. AMEN!  The U.S. Embassy relocation to Jerusalem was indeed a religious experience for anybody who has spiritual eyes to see and ears to hear!
 
Knesset Christian Allies Caucus (KCAC) director Josh Reinstein explained that the embassies moving to the capital is proof that the caucus’s premise works.
 
“We’re celebrating the biggest victory of faith-based diplomacy that the world has ever seen,” Reinstein said. “We had this idea that you can take people who have biblical support for Israel and turn it into real political action and we can start doing things that people thought was unheard of, and that’s exactly what happened this week.”
Precious moments from the Knesset celebration included  Member of Knesset (MK) Dr. Anat Berko, a counter terrorism expert who spoke warmly about the new bridges between Jews and Christians. She told us that if Jesus came to Israel today, they could speak the same Hebrew language and that Jesus was not a shahid or a Muslim. [Her remarks reflected the fact that many in the Arab world have tried to hijack the national identity of Jesus.]
Former Congresswoman and Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann told us that the floodgates have opened for more embassies to be relocated to Jerusalem’s eternal capital.
 
The Christian Allies Caucus is a multiparty caucus of 19 members of Knesset, aiming to foster communication between Israeli legislators and Christian leaders and politicians around the world. There are 38 Israel Allies Caucuses in nations worldwide, under the auspices of the Israel Allies Foundation.
KCAC chairman Robert Ilatov reminded us that the name of “Jerusalem” has the same root in Hebrew as the words “peace” and “wholeness,” and those are the qualities that we should mention in our prayers for Jerusalem.
 
“The moving of US and Guatemala embassies to Jerusalem is a historic milestone. I do believe that it is a path for peacemaking, as it recognizes the history and reflects the truth, and peace can only be based on the truth,” Ilatov said.
 
The erudite author and Deputy Minister for Diplomacy Michael Oren said the embassies moving to Jerusalem is “the realization of a 70-year-long dream, and a 2,000-year vision of an independent Jewish state in the Land of Israel with its eternal and undivided capital, Jerusalem, recognized by the most powerful nation on earth.”
 
Congressman Juan Manuel Díaz- Durán, chairman of the Guatemalan Israel Allies Caucus, spoke on behalf of his government’s delegation:  “The solidarity and friendship between the people of Guatemala and Israel has been very clear, since 1947, when the Republic of Guatemala played a determining role in world events by casting the second vote at the UN to recognize the State of Israel,” Díaz-Durán said.
 
Rep. Alan Clemmons of the South Carolina House of Representatives, who authored the Israel plank in the Republican Party’s presidential platform, encouraged Israel to continue to fulfil its divine destiny without fear.