Israel Matzav

Move the US Embassy to Jerusalem Now!

At NationalReviewOnline, Daniel Freedman argues that President Bush should stop using the 'national security waiver' as has been done by himself and Bill Clinton before him every six months for the last eleven years and move the US embassy to Jerusalem:

The excuses given for the use of the waiver, courtesy of the Arabists at the State department, are that moving the embassy will destabilize peace negotiations and anger the other Arab states. Today those excuses are weaker than ever. It’s hard to imagine how negotiations could be destabilized further. There are none. The Palestinian Arabs are now represented by terrorists committed to Israel’s destruction. What’s the worst that could happen if the embassy is moved? Hamas will reiterate for the hundred and first time that they want to wipe out the Jewish state? And what will those Arab states—the likes of Saudi Arabia and Syria—do? Will they still refuse to recognize Israel? More importantly why should other states, and undemocratic states at that, determine where America places its embassy in one of its closest allies? Israel is the only country in the world where the American president blocks the placing of America’s embassy in the nation’s capital.

Moreover, not moving the embassy is actually a barrier to peace. Not moving the embassy leaves the Palestinians Arabs with the hope that one day, as Hamas promises, Jerusalem will be theirs. But this is a false hope. The status of Jerusalem is non-negotiable to the Jewish people. King David's oath, "If I forget thee, O'Jerusalem, let my right hand turn lame," recited by Jews to this day, was made 700 years before the advent of Christianity and 1,200 years before Islam. But not only was Jerusalem the center of the ancient Jewish state, it’s also the center of the modern state: The parliament, the Supreme Court, and the central bank are all there. Leaving the Palestinian Arabs with any hope that one day they’ll be given Jerusalem is leaving them with a false dream. But by not moving the embassy, the American government is signaling that the dream isn’t so false. If the Jews are denied sovereignty over their capital city, even by their closest ally, it’s sending the message that everything is still to play for. And so while Hamas’s agenda seems extreme to most, the Palestinian Arab people see America legitimizing part of Hamas’s agenda—one reason for their electoral success.

Read the whole thing.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:57 PM