By Daryl Heading, ICE
Murfreesboro, TN – Prominent evangelical leaders sent a letter this week to President Trump urging him to fulfill his campaign promise to move the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv to Israel’s capital, Jerusalem. A majority in Congress passed The Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem. However, it included a security waiver which every president has so far used to delay the move citing possible impacts on peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians. The next deadline for the waiver is December 1, 2017.
“This issue is important to Christian leaders, many of whom are in favor of continued Israeli sovereignty over all of Jerusalem, including our revered sites in the eastern part of the city. Only a free and democratic Israel will protect Jerusalem for all peoples of faith.” Susan Michael, US Director-ECEJ
This week’s communication reminded the White House of a previous letter signed in May by 60 major Christian leaders, representing 60 million evangelicals, which asked the President not to sign the waiver and to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem. The letters were organized by American Christian Leaders for Israel (ACLI), an informal network of Christian leaders managed by the US Branch of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem. They agree with the recent urging from the US Congress’ House Subcommittee on National Security that the time to move the US Embassy is now during Jerusalem’s 50th anniversary year as a reunified city.
Susan Michael, US Director-ICEJ commented, “The Trump presidency has opened a door of opportunity in the Middle East, but we cannot assume it will stay open for long and must act now.” Ms. Michael went on to say, “This issue is important to Christian leaders, many of whom are in favor of continued Israeli sovereignty over all of Jerusalem, including our revered sites in the eastern part of the city. Only a free and democratic Israel will protect Jerusalem for all peoples of faith.”
Both lawmakers and American Christian Leaders for Israel have urged President Trump NOT to sign the waiver on December 1st, thus allowing the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Act to finally be implemented. In doing so, President Trump would reverse a long-standing injustice since Israel is currently our only ally where the US Embassy is not located in its capital.
By Daryl Hedding
Raised in South Africa, Daryl spent three years in Israel as a teenager while his father, Rev. Malcolm Hedding, served as Chaplain to the ICEJ. He returned on his own in 1998 shortly after graduating from university to serve as the Financial Coordinator at the ministry’s Jerusalem headquarters.
In 2001, Daryl moved to Washington D.C. to work as the accountant for the ICEJ’s USA branch and has served the ministry in a variety of capacities ever since. In 2006, he spearheaded the move of the ICEJ’s US administrative offices to the Nashville area, significantly cutting overhead costs and increasing the effectiveness of the Branch’s outreach to the local Church across the United States.
Three years later, Daryl was appointed Strategic Development Director for the ICEJ worldwide, bringing some 24 distinct national branch websites together on a single, global, web platform and pioneering the streaming of the annual Feast of Tabernacles Celebration online.
Today, Daryl serves the US Branch as Deputy Director and travels frequently throughout the United States, speaking in churches about the significance of Israel in these days and bringing insight and understanding to the unique biblical call of the Jewish people. A naturalized US citizen, he lives with his Finnish wife Katja and their two children in Murfreesboro, TN
