Israel is a sovereign state. Sovereign states have every right to determine where their capitals are. Israel has designated Jerusalem as its capital. Jerusalem is the seat of Israel’s national government. Yet nations of the world refuse to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. This is nothing less than a travesty.
The United States of America is Israel’s closest ally. For years its political leaders have acknowledged Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Indeed, in 1995 Congress passed “The Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995,” which explicitly establishes the position of the United States that “Jerusalem should be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel,” and requires that the American Embassy in Israel be moved to Jerusalem. President Trump’s welcome announcement today reaffirms that longstanding commitment, and deserves to be warmly commended.
To us, as believing Jews, the special status of Jerusalem is not dependent upon the formal recognition of governments or the nations of the world. To us, Yerushalayim is the Ir Hakodesh, the holy city, the place where the Holy Temples stood thousands of years ago, the place that has been in the prayers and hearts of the Jewish people wherever they may have been through their long years of exile, the place that has been our glorious history and will forever remain our ultimate destiny.
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