Trump administration officials are saying it will take three or more years to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The State Department says there are no plans to list Jerusalem as Israel’s capital on U.S. government documents. And American citizens born in Jerusalem still have “Jerusalem” rather than “Israel” listed as their place of birth.
So it seems only fair to ask: What, exactly, has changed?
There is no doubt that the president’s declaration had symbolic significance. And symbols can be important. But Jerusalem is more than just a symbol. It’s a real city, and Israel is under real pressure from the Arabs, the United Nations, and the Jewish radical left to withdraw from part or all of the city. So it matters whether or not the United States is genuinely supporting Israeli sovereignty over all of united Jerusalem.
In his recognition announcement, President Trump emphasized: “We are not taking a position of any final status issues, including the specific boundaries of the Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem…” So the U.S. has not recognized Israel’s right to the Old City, where the Western Wall, Temple Mount, and historic Jewish Quarter are located.
Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) said that he urged the president to use the phrase “undivided Jerusalem,” to indicate that the U.S. accepts Israel’s reunification and control over the entire city. Unfortunately, Schumer’s suggestion was not accepted.
In his announcement, Trump said he is “directing the State Department to begin preparation to move the American embassy” and to “begin the process of hiring architects, engineers, and planners.”
But the Jerusalem Embassy Act, which became law in November 1995, didn’t say anything about “beginning preparations” or “beginning a process.” It said that the State Department’s annual budget for buildings abroad will be cut in half unless “the United States Embassy in Jerusalem has officially opened.” Not “unless preparations have begun.” Not “unless the process has begun.” Unless it has “officially opened.” Which it hasn’t.
The president said that “architects, engineers, and planners” have to be hired to build an embassy in Jerusalem. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said it will happen “probably no earlier than three years out, and that’s pretty ambitious.”
Another administration official told the Washington Examiner that “the embassy may not be relocated before the end of Trump’s four-year term in office.”
That’s strange, because an embassy could be officially opened almost overnight, just by posting a sign on the front door of the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem, declaring it to be the embassy. In January 1992, following the fall of the Soviet Union, the U.S. wanted to quickly establish full diplomatic relations with the new Russian Federation. So instead of wasting time building a new facility, the Bush administration simply announced that the U.S. consulate in Kiev had been “upgraded” to the status of an embassy.
Here’s another way it could be done: over the past few years, the U.S. government built a new facility, in Jerusalem’s Arnona neighborhood. Technically, it’s the “U.S. Consulate Annex.” According to the Los Angeles times, it’s “a fortress-like building with security guards outside [which] handles visas and passports…” Why can’t that be upgraded to the status of an embassy?
There are other tangible ways that recognition of Jerusalem could be implemented. Reporters mentioned several of them during a briefing by Acting Assistant Secretary of State David M. Satterfield on December 7.
For example, the U.S. could reverse the policy of barring American citizens born in Jerusalem from having “Israel” written in their passports as their place of birth. Or the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem could start using “Jerusalem, Israel” as its mailing address. And it could redraw the maps it uses so that they show Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Satterfield was unequivocal in his response: “There has been no change in our policy with respect to consular practice or passport issuance at this time…. On consular practice there is no change at this time…In consular practice there is no impact.”
So where does that leave things? The embassy hasn’t been moved. The maps aren’t being redrawn. The passport designations haven’t changed, nor has the consulate’s address.
So, although I understand the human temptation to celebrate every glimmer of hope and pat ourselves on the back for an advocacy job well done, it seems that the job is not quite done after all. Renewed efforts by American Jewish community apparently will be necessary to move the U.S. policy on Jerusalem from symbolism to reality.