Following the outrageous decision by UNESCO to ignore the millennia-old Jewish connection to Jerusalem, the campaigns of Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton weighed in on their positions.
The campaigns of Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton weighed in on their positions on the status of Jerusalem following UNESCO’s decision to ignore the Jewish connection to Jerusalem and its holy sites.
In a statement to JNS.org, the Trump campaign slammed the decision, saying a Trump administration “will recognize Jerusalem as the one true capital of Israel.
“The United Nations’ attempt to disconnect the state of Israel from Jerusalem is a one-sided attempt to ignore Israel’s 3,000-year bond to its capital city, and is further evidence of the enormous anti-Israel bias of the UN,” Trump said in a statement. “Jerusalem is the enduring capital of the Jewish people, and the overwhelming majority of Congress has voted to recognize Jerusalem as just that.”
He criticized the recent move by the Obama administration to strike the word “Israel” from a transcript of President Barack Obama’s eulogy for former Israeli President Shimon Peres.
In the original transcript, “Jerusalem, Israel” was included in the dateline. However, several hours after he gave the speech, the White House issued a new transcript striking “Israel” from the Jerusalem dateline.
The Trump campaign told JNS.org, “the Obama administration’s decision to strike the word ‘Israel’ after ‘Jerusalem’ was a capitulation to Israel’s enemies, and a posthumous embarrassment to Shimon Peres, whose memory the president was attempting to honor.”
The White House move followed longstanding US policy since 1949 of not recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital or even as belonging to Israel. Instead, the U.S. has proposed the future of Jerusalem be settled through a negotiated settlement.
Meanwhile, when the Clinton campaign was asked about Obama’s move to strike the word “Israel,” her campaign spokesperson pointed to the 2016 Democratic Party Platform’s language on Jerusalem that states, “While Jerusalem is a matter for final status negotiations, it should remain the capital of Israel, an undivided city accessible to people of all faiths.”
By: JNS.org
Sign the Declaration to Keep Jerusalem United
Jerusalem Must Remain the United Capital of Israel
I declare that Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish People and support all efforts to maintain and strengthen a united Jerusalem as the undivided capital of the State of Israel.