Israeli-born Gene Simmons of Kiss backs Trump on US embassy move, and calls out the pope on border wall
The outspoken founding member of the legendary rock band claims the pontiff is being hypocritical for criticising the proposed border wall, saying ‘The Vatican has a big wall around it for the same reason’
By Matthew J. Belvedere
Gene Simmons, outspoken founding member of the rock band Kiss, waded into two hot-button political issues on Thursday, siding with President Donald Trump on moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and building a southern border wall between the U.S. and Mexico .
Simmons, born in the city of Haifa, spoke first about the embassy, pointing to the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Act, which recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and called for the relocation of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv by 1999.
“This president, President Trump, who I’ve known a little bit here and there, is not the one who passed the legislation,” Simmons told CNBC’s “Squawk Box”. “So the president was following what already was agreed on.”
However, past presidents in both parties from Bill Clinton to George W. Bush to Barack Obama used the bill’s waiver authority to suspend the move, citing concerns about complicating attempts at getting Israelis and Palestinians to reach a peace accord. Both sides claim Jerusalem as their capital.
On Monday, Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor, Jared Kushner , who is Jewish, presided over the opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem , which came about five months after the president formally recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and promised the move.
