Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/915129
8 December 14 • 2017 jn 8 December 14 • 2017 jn continued on page 10 I 'm an Israeli, a Zionist and an Orthodox Jew. I admit — I am con- flicted about the Trump adminis- tration's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. And I shouldn't be. There is no ques- tion that this is a long overdue step. But the timing, and the potential for harsh reactions that may harm U.S. and perhaps even Israeli interests, while pro- moting those of our enemies, is problem- atical. The international community has lived for 70 years with the fiction that the sta- tus of Jerusalem is unclear and subject to the terms of a future peace settlement. I think that it's an aberration that Israel's closest and most powerful friend and ally, the United States, has been unwilling to step up and cut through the crap for so long. The fact that every six months for 20 years, the "time wasn't right" for the State Department to honor the wishes of the majority of Americans and a strong bipartisan majority of the legislative branch — and instead had the president ask for a waiver saying that a suspension of the law written by Congress mandating the move of the embassy "is necessary to protect the national security interests of the United States" — is nothing short of bizarre. But … we have a saying in Israel: "Don't be right; be smart," and this is why I am conflicted. Because timing is everything. The Muslim world is divided as never before. Blocs have formed due to the civil war in Syria, and there is a bloc close to the West and closer to Israel than ever before, under the surface and increasingly on the surface as well. Past experience shows us that of the very few issues that can unify Muslims, and of the many that can inflame the Muslim street, one of the most powerful is a perceived threat to Jerusalem and to Al Aqsa. It puts the "good guys" — Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt — on the spot, and they are already warning about the consequences. It will further weaken Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in his struggle with Hamas, which bludgeons him with his continued willingness to engage with Israel and the U.S. administration. It also could provide a strong following wind to the ships of Israel's enemies — Iran, Joshua Krasna Conflicted Over Trump's Announcement P resident Trump's deci- sion to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital is a perfect response to former President Barack Obama's benighted decision to change American policy by engineering the United Nations Security Council reso- lution declaring Judaism's holi- est places in Jerusalem to be occupied territory and a "fla- grant violation under interna- tional law." It was Obama who changed the status quo and made peace more difficult, by handing the Palestinians enormous leverage in future negotiations and disincentivizing them from making a compromised peace. It had long been American foreign policy to veto any one-sided Security Council resolutions that declared Judaism's holiest places to be illegally occupied. Obama's decision to change that policy was not based on American interests or in the interests of peace. It was done out of personal revenge against Prime Minister Netanyahu and an act of pique by the outgoing president. It was also designed improperly to tie the hands of President-elect Trump. President Trump is doing the right thing by telling the United Nations that the United States now rejects the one-sided Security Council resolution. Obama's refusal to veto this one-sided resolution was a delib- erate ploy to tie the hands of his successors, the consequence of which was to make it far more difficult for his successors to encourage the Palestinians to accept Israel's offer to negotiate with no precon- ditions. No future president can undo this pernicious agreement since a veto not cast can never be retroactively cast. And a resolution once enacted cannot be rescinded unless there is a majority vote against it, with no veto by any of its per- manent members, which include Russia and China, who would be sure to veto any attempt to undo this resolution. Trump's decision to officially recog- nize Jerusalem as Israel's capital helps to restore the appropriate balance. It demonstrates that the United States does not accept the Judenrein effects of this bigoted resolution on historic Jewish areas of Jerusalem, which were forbidden to Jews. The prior refusal of the United States to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital was based explicitly on the notion that nothing should be done to change the status quo of that city, holy to three religions. But the Security Council reso- lution did exactly that. It changed the status quo by declaring Israel's de facto presence on these Jewish holy sites to be a "flagrant violation under international law" that "the U.N. will not recognize." Since virtually everyone in the inter- national community acknowledges that any reasonable peace would recognize Israel's legitimate claims to these and other areas in Jerusalem, there is no reason for allowing the U.N. resolution to make criminals out of every Jew or Israeli who sets foot on these historically Jewish areas. • This is an excerpt from an op-ed originally published by The Hill. Alan Dershowitz is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Emeritus, at Harvard Law School and author of "Trumped up! How Criminalizing Politics is Dangerous to Democracy." views Varied Views Of Trump's Recognition Of Jerusalem As The Capital Of Israel Why Trump Is Right In Recognizing Jerusalem As Israel's Capital Alan Dershowitz Trump's Decision Is Destructive O f course Jerusalem is the capital of the State of Israel. But it is also the capital of the State of Palestine, currently occupied by the Israeli army and unable to exercise its sovereignty in the Arab parts of Jerusalem that will someday be an integral part of the Palestinian state. To ignore this fact, and instead play to the most reactionary element of the Israeli people and of the Jewish people around the world is to not only be ignorant and arrogant, but also terribly destructive to the possibility of the U.S. playing a construc- tive role in bringing an end to the Israeli/ Palestinian struggle. Those of us American Jews who seek an end to that struggle recognize that a lasting peace with justice for both sides can only be achieved through a new spirit of generosity and repentance from both sides. Instead, by clumsily and stupidly wading in to this struggle and endorsing Israel's side on one of the central issues of the struggle, namely the future status of Jerusalem, Trump weakens the hand of those in the Palestinian world who want to achieve reconciliation with Israel and strengthens the hands of the Palestinians who have given up on achieving peace through negotiations. Trump has there- fore given a gift to Hamas just as he has given a gift to the Israeli settlers and extremists whose goal is to achieve ethnic cleansing by making life intolerable for Palestinians both within Israel's pre-1967 boundaries and inside the West Bank, while simultaneously weakening the Israeli peace camp. To those of us who seek peace, there is no question that the Old City of Jerusalem does not "belong" to any one religion or people — it is a holy site for Jews, Muslims and Christians, and should eventually become an international city that is open to all. West Jerusalem is already appro- priately the location of the Knesset and major parts of the government of Israel. East Jerusalem, long the spiritual center of the Palestinian state, must become its official capital as soon as Israel is willing to let that happen or as soon as the inter- national community can use whatever means are at its disposal to make that happen. In the meantime, Trump has pushed that date further into the future, thereby putting Israel and Palestine both into danger of renewed violence and fur- ther entrenching hatreds that must be healed. Shame on Trump and shame on those who support this arrogant and destructive act. • Rabbi Michael Lerner is editor of Tikkun Magazine. Rabbi Michael Lerner