The Orthodox Union Advocacy has written a letter to President-Elect Donald Trump, asking him to keep his campaign commitment to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, in recognition of the Holy City as Israel’s chosen capital. The group has posted a petition for all supporters of that relocation to sign.
During the campaign, Mr. Trump pledged that, as President, he would “move the American embassy to the eternal capital of the Jewish people, Jerusalem.” In so doing, he said, “we will send a clear signal that there is no daylight between America and our most reliable ally, the State of Israel.”
Supporters of Israel have long believed that moving the embassy to Jerusalem would send an important message to Israel’s enemies, none of whom are friends of Washington, that the relationship between the US and the Jewish state has closed the gap that President Barack Obama tried to create.
Promised Change in Policy
From the beginning of his administration, Mr. Obama made clear his belief that the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians could be resolved only by his distancing the US from Israel, expressing sympathy for the Palestinians at Israel’s expense, and signaling that his administration would hold Israel and not Palestinian conduct responsible for the conflict.
During the campaign, Mr. Trump castigated Mr. Obama for those policies and pledged to reverse them.
In fact, as former UN Ambassador John Bolton has pointed out, there is no downside to Mr. Trump’s moving the embassy to Jerusalem. The land for the embassy has already been secured in the western portion of Jerusalem, an area that is not disputed at all.
Two decades ago, Congress passed the Jerusalem Embassy Act requiring the United States to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The bill became law under President Bill Clinton, but every President since then has issued waivers preventing the move from taking place.
50th Anniversary
The Orthodox Union Advocacy believes the timing of its letter and Mr. Trump’s assuming office is significant. June 2017 will mark the 50th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem.
Those who would like to sign the petition can find it at: https://www.change.org/p/donald-trump-should-keep-his-promise-and-move-the-us-embassy-to-jerusalem?recruiter=205512056&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=autopublish&utm_term=des-md-share_petition-reason_msg.
By Susan Rosenbluth, TheJewishVoiceAndOpinion.com
