Practical Steps Needed to Actualize U.S. Recognition of Israel’s Sovereignty In Jerusalem

Concern has risen from the U.S. State Department’s refusal to implement President Trump’s official policy declaration regarding Jerusalem. The president clearly and unequivocally declared the U.S.’s support of Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem, finally recognizing that Jerusalem is Israel’s eternal capital. This was done in accordance with the law created by the U.S. Congress in 1995 and reaffirmed by the Senate only six months ago. This was a welcome step by the U.S. government, in recognition of the reality that started with King David creating Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish People 3,000 years ago and the modern State of Israel reaffirming this nearly 70 years ago. However, bureaucrats in the State Department have been challenging this by refusing to take the necessary practical steps to implement this as official policy. This article explains more. Help us fight for Jerusalem! Please contact the White House and your elected officials to demand change!

Illustrative photo by Andrew Shiva [CC BY-SA 3.0 or Attribution], via Wikimedia Commons

The State Department Strikes Back Over Jerusalem

Article Courtesy: Israel Rising

The United States still will not formally recognize Jerusalem as being located in Israel on official documents, maps, and passports, despite President Donald Trump’s announcement earlier this week that America is formally recognizing the holy city as Israel’s capital, according to State Department officials who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon about the matter.

Despite Trump’s declaration, which was formally codified on Wednesday into U.S. policy, the State Department is taking a more nuanced position on the matter, drawing some ire in Congress among pro-Israel lawmakers who accuse the State Department of undermining Trump’s efforts.

State Department officials this week had difficulty stating as fact that Jerusalem is located within Israel, instead trying to parse the issue as still subject to diplomatic negotiations.

State Department officials who spoke to the Free Beacon about the situation said that while it supports Trump’s declaration that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, it is not yet at the point where it will list Jerusalem as part of Israel on passports, maps, and official documents. This means that official documents, such as passports, will not, at this point, list “Jerusalem, Israel” as a place that exists.

The State Department’s careful parsing of the issue has already drawn outrage on Capitol Hill, where some lawmakers are describing this as part of an effort to undermine the Trump White House’s clear-cut declaration on the matter.

“The president is the commander-in-chief and America’s sole organ when it comes to conducting foreign policy,” Rep. Ron DeSantis (R., Fla.), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told the Free Beacon. “Article II of the Constitution does not vest this authority in bureaucrats in the State Department.”

“The State Department must permit Americans born in Jerusalem to list ‘Jerusalem, Israel’ on their passports and must follow the logical implications of this historic recognition in other policy areas,” DeSantis said. ” President Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital was the right thing to do and enjoys broad support from the American people; an entrenched bureaucracy has no right to stymie this decision.”

A State Department official who spoke to the Free Beacon about the matter made clear that the United States now “recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and its seat of government.”

However, “the specific boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem are subject to final status negotiations,” the official said, explaining that the holy city’s exact location and placement in Israel proper is still up for debate.

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