Romney backs Jerusalem as Israeli capital
Posted Sun 29 Jul 2012 at 8:29pm Sunday 29 Jul 2012 at 8:29pm Sun 29 Jul 2012 at 8:29pm , updated Sun 29 Jul 2012 at 10:30pm Sunday 29 Jul 2012 at 10:30pm Sun 29 Jul 2012 at 10:30pm
Endorsement: Mitt Romney in Jerusalem (AFP: Alex Kolomoisky)
abc.net.au/news/romney-says-jerusalem-is-israel-capital/4162692
White House hopeful Mitt Romney has hailed Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, in an apparent endorsement of a position held by the Jewish state but never accepted by the international community.
"It is a deeply moving experience to be in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel," the Republican challenger said at the outset of a speech in the Holy City at which he laid out his positions on key foreign policy issues facing Israel.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked him for his remarks.
"I want to thank you for those very strong words of support and friendship for Israel and for Jerusalem that we heard today," he said.
"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."
The status of Jerusalem is one of the most contentious issues of the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Most of the international community, including the United States, does not formally recognise 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 only consular representation in Jerusalem.
In 1995, the US Congress passed the so-called Jerusalem Embassy Act recognising 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 - Bill Clinton, George W Bush and Barack Obama - meaning the law has never taken effect.
Almost four years ago, in August 2008 - some three months before the US presidential election - Mr Obama, then a Democratic hopeful, made a similar statement about Jerusalem.
"Jerusalem will be the capital of Israel," he said, said on a tour of the southern Israeli town of Sderot, making clear that the status of the city was "a final status issue."
"I have said that before and I will say that again."
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A senior Palestinian official said Mr Romney's endorsement of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel was "harmful" to US interests in the Middle East.
"Romney's declarations are harmful to American interests in our region, and they harm peace, security and stability," Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said.
"Even if this statement is within the US election campaign, it is unacceptable and we completely reject it. The US election campaign should never be at the expense of the Palestinians.
"Romney is rewarding occupation, settlement and extremism in the region with such declarations."
Israel, which occupied the largely Arab eastern sector of Jerusalem 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.
"East Jerusalem is occupied, and according to the two-state solution - which is supported by the whole world, including by the United States and by the majority of Israeli people - east Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine and west Jerusalem is the capital of Israel," Mr Erakat said.
"You cannot have a two-state solution without east Jerusalem being the capital of Palestine."
Posted 29 Jul 2012 29 Jul 2012 Sun 29 Jul 2012 at 8:29pm , updated 29 Jul 2012 29 Jul 2012 Sun 29 Jul 2012 at 10:30pm
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