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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan | ||
| Romney declares Jerusalem as Israel's capital | ||
| 2012-07-30 | ||
| JERUSALEM: US Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Sunday declared Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state and told an Israeli audience that the United States has “a solemn duty and a moral imperative” to block Iran from achieving nuclear weapons capability. In an apparent endorsement of a position held by the Jewish state but never accepted by the international community, Romney said: “It is a deeply moving experience to be in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked him for his remarks, later telling him: “I want to thank you for those very strong words of support and friendship for Israel and for Jerusalem that we heard today. Jerusalem today is marking the destruction of the city thousands of years ago. As you see it’s been rebuilt by the Jewish people, open to all the three great faiths, vibrant, bustling,” he said, shortly after the end of Tisha B’Av, when Jews traditionally fast to mourn the destruction of the two Jewish Temples. “And as you said, Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, and Jerusalem will always be the capital of Israel,” he said in remarks communicated by his office. The status of Jerusalem is one of the most contentious issues of the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel, which occupied the largely Arab eastern sector during the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it, claims both halves of the city to be its “eternal and undivided capital.” But the Palestinians want the eastern sector as capital of their promised state and fiercely oppose any Israeli attempt to extend sovereignty there. Most of the international community, including the United States, does not formally recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital due to the ongoing conflict with the Palestinians, insisting the issue can only be resolved through final status negotiations. All foreign embassies are located in Tel Aviv with consular representation in Jerusalem. In 1995, the US Congress passed the so-called Jerusalem Embassy Act recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and stating that the US embassy should be moved there. But an inbuilt waiver, which allowed the president to temporarily postpone the move on grounds of “national security” has been repeatedly invoked by successive US presidents, from Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barak Obama, meaning the law has never taken effect.
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| Posted by:Steve White |
| #7 "Only Romney can go to Jerusalem." |
| Posted by: Shinter Javirong9154 2012-07-30 15:29 |
| #6 because the PAleos have been such partners for peace |
| Posted by: Frank G 2012-07-30 14:56 |
| #5 "Don't like it? Tough noogies. Learn to live with disappointment." |
| Posted by: mojo 2012-07-30 14:00 |
| #4 The law has never been put in effect since the arab world would have gone batshit crazy(er) and made dealing with them even more difficult. And yet they went ahead and got batshit crazier anyway. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2012-07-30 12:59 |
| #3 They always talk like this when campaigning for election. Once they get elected, however, ... |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2012-07-30 11:00 |
| #2 The law has never been put in effect since the arab world would have gone batshit crazy(er) and made dealing with them even more difficult. However, thanks to the arab "spring", that may no longer be the case since they have all gone hardline or are in civil war. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2012-07-30 01:04 |
| #1 Perhaps Mittens' campaign camp learned about Charles Krauthammer's comment that NO ISRAELI/ JEWISH-AMERICAN WILL VOTE FOR OBAMA. Mucho doubts on the Jewish lobby also as per George Will, Cal Thomas, + Pat Buchanan. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2012-07-30 00:12 |