More to the story on US embassy in Israel
The recent front page headline “Trump’s Jerusalem move …” from the Washington Post caught my attention.
While this is a complex and controversial issue, what really struck me was the glaring omission of historical facts related to the Jerusalem situation and the gross hypocrisy of members of Congress. Not mentioned at all in the article was the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Act, passed by the Senate 93-5, which authorized the move of our embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Since then, every president has waived the bill in six-month intervals, just as Trump did earlier this month. The Democratic Party platforms of 2012 and 2016 recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Jerusalem is the location for all of Israel’s government activity, where the Knesset (Congress) resides and foreign leaders meet. In the past, as many as 16 nations located their embassies in Jerusalem. The U.S embassy in Israel is the only one not located in a capital city. I think this background is relevant.
Sen. Barbara Feinstein, for example, along with 92 other senators, previously approved this action, but now publicly condemn it. Bernie Sanders, just last June, supported a resolution for keeping Jerusalem the “undivided capital of Israel” and now he rejects the Trump position? Does it sound hypocritical that senators support this only when it serves their need for votes?
I am not sure if moving our embassy from Tel Aviv makes sense now or even three years from now, but I do recognize this article as biased and one-sided reporting.
Richard Bradbury
Beaufort
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This story was originally published December 17, 2017 at 6:00 AM with the headline "More to the story on US embassy in Israel."