Status of Jerusalem

The modern Knesset building, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem

Frontal view of The Supreme Court building

Positions on Jerusalem discusses the views of several parties regarding the city of Jerusalem.

Israeli position

Israel regards unified Jerusalem as the eternal, undivided capital of the State of Israel and of the Jewish people. This consistent position has been the declared view of all Israeli governments, left-wing and right-wing. All Israeli governments since 1967 have encouraged large-scale construction projects in the eastern part of the city, resulting in the Jewish population of East Jerusalem, which is 38% of the Jewish population of the entire city, becoming close to half of the overall population in that part of the city. However, various Israeli governments have agreed to rationalization of the municipal borders of the city, in order to enable the outlying Arab quarters to be merged with Arab urban areas in the West Bank in order to become the capital of a future Palestinian state under the name of al-Quds.

All the branches of Israeli government (Presidential, Legislative, Judicial, and Administrative) are seated in Jerusalem. It is home to a number of key Israeli government buildings, including the Knesset and Israeli Supreme Court.

As of 2004, only two states, Costa Rica and El Salvador, locate their embassies in Jerusalem (since 1984). Bolivia and Paraguay have their embassies in Mevasseret Zion, a suburb of Jerusalem. The Netherlands maintains an office in Jerusalem serving mainly Israeli citizens. Other foreign governments base Consulate General offices in Jerusalem, including Greece, the United Kingdom and the United States. These consular offices primarily serve the Palestinian population of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and their Consul Generals do not submit letters of credentials to the Israeli President or foreign ministry, but instead, deliver them to the administrative governor of Jerusalem.

Palestinian position

It is the position of the Palestinian Authority that the capital of a future Palestinian state should be situated in East Jerusalem. The Palestinians claim East Jerusalem (Al-Quds) as the capital of a future Palestinian state. In the Palestine Liberation Organization's Palestinian Declaration of Independence of 1988, Jerusalem is stated to be to be the capital of the State of Palestine. In 2000 the Palestinian Authority passed a law designating East Jerusalem as such, and in 2002 this law was ratified.[1] According to the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Information, the official Palestinian position on Jerusalem includes four points: [2]

• That East Jerusalem is occupied territory according to United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, and is part of the territory over which a Palestinian state, when established, shall exercise sovereignty. Palestine shall declare Jerusalem as its capital.
• According to previously signed agreements with Israel, the status of "Jerusalem" (and not specifically East Jerusalem) is subject to permanent status negotiations.
• Jerusalem should be an open city that is freely accessible, and should remain undivided regardless of the resolution of the question of sovereignty.
• A Palestinian state would be committed to freedom of worship for all and take all measures to protect and safeguard sites of religious significance.

In the mid 1990s, a proposal was floated by Dr. Mahmoud Abbas (today the President of the Palestinian Authority) and Dr. Yossi Beilin (who served as an Israeli government minister in various periods during the 1990's), among others, under which the Palestinian urban mass of East Jerusalem, comprising of part of the eastern Jerusalem areas within the present municipal borders and urban areas currently part of the West Bank (such as Abu Dis and Eizariya), could be redefined as al-Quds, with the remaining Arab East Jerusalem residents being defined as Israeli residents and Palestinian citizens. These proposals did not constitute a plan to resolve of the conflict over Jerusalem, as the status of the Old City, the most contentious aspect of the conflict, was not fully addressed.

UN position

The position of the United Nations on the question of Jerusalem is contained in General Assembly resolution 181(11) and subsequent resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council concerning this question.

The UN Security Council, in UN Resolution 478, declared that the 1980 Jerusalem Law declaring unified Jerusalem, including annexed East Jerusalem, as Israel's "eternal and indivisible" capital was "null and void and must be rescinded forthwith" (14-0-1, with United States abstaining). The resolution instructed member states to withdraw their diplomatic representation from the city as a punitive measure.

Before this resolution, thirteen countries maintained their embassies in Jerusalem: Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, the Netherlands, Panama, Uruguay, Venezuela. Following the UN resolution, all thirteen moved their embassies to Tel Aviv. Costa Rica and El Salvador moved theirs back to Jerusalem in 1984.

United States position

The United States Jerusalem Embassy Act, passed by Congress in 1995, states that "Jerusalem should be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel; and the United States Embassy in Israel should be established in Jerusalem no later than May 31 1999". Since then, the relocation of the embassy from Tel Aviv is being suspended by the President semi-annually, each time stating that "[the] Administration remains committed to beginning the process of moving our embassy to Jerusalem". As a result of the Embassy Act, official U.S. documents and web sites refer to Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Section 214 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, 2003 states:

"The Congress maintains its commitment to relocating the United States Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and urges the President [...] to immediately begin the process of relocating the United States Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem". [3]

However, U.S. presidents, including President Bush, have argued that Congressional resolutions regarding the status of Jerusalem are merely "advisory", stating that it "impermissibly interferes with the President's constitutional authority". [4] The U.S. Constitution reserves the conduct of foreign policy to the President and resolutions of Congress which make foreign policy are arguably invalid for that reason. The U.S. Congress, however, has the "power of the purse", and could prohibit the expenditure of funds on any embassy located outside Jerusalem. The U.S. Congress has not taken this step.

The site for the future US Embassy has been demarcated by Israel and the US, and is maintained in the western Jerusalem neighborhood of Talpiot.

United Kingdom position

According to the UK, Jerusalem was supposed to be a ‘corpus separatum’, or international city administered by the UN. This was never set up: immediately after the UNGA resolution partitioning Palestine, Israel occupied West Jerusalem and Jordan occupied East Jerusalem (including the Old City). The UK recognises the de facto control of Israel and Jordan, but not sovereignty. In 1967, Israel occupied E Jerusalem, which is considered is under illegal military occupation by Israel. The UK Embassy to Israel is in Tel Aviv, not Jerusalem. In E Jerusalem there is a Consulate-General, with a Consul-General who is not accredited to any state: this is an expression of the view that no state has sovereignty over Jerusalem. UK Foreign Office position on Jerusalem

The UK believes that the city’s status has yet to be determined, and maintains that it should be settled in an overall agreement between the parties concerned, but considers that the city should not again be divided. The Declaration of Principles and the Interim Agreement, signed by Israel and the PLO on 13 September 1993 and 28 September 1995 respectively, left the issue of the status of Jerusalem to be decided in the ‘permanent status’ negotiations between the two parties.