Two New York State Senators, describing the location of the American Embassy in Israel as “an anachronism,” have urged the U.S. government to move the Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
In a resolution sponsored by Minority Leader Manfred Ohrenstein (D. Manhattan) and Senate Deputy Speaker Alan Hevesi (D.Queens), with Assembly members Sheldon Silver, Dov Hikind, Howard Lasher and Nettie Mayersohn as prime co-sponsors, the New York State Legislature called on the U.S. government to move the Embassy.
“The sentiment of the New York State Legislature reflects public opinion polls, which indicate that support for Jerusalem as the capital of Israel runs three-to-one in favor among Americans with an opinion on that subject,” Ohrenstein and Hevesi said of the resolution.
Pointing out that Israel is “the only country in the world where the United States maintains its Embassy outside of a nation’s administrative capital,” the resolution commemorates the forthcoming 17th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem by “calling upon the government of the United States, through its Congress, its President, and its State Department to move the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the capital of the State of Israel.”
The resolution details the history of Jerusalem, which “has never been the capital of any other nation,” and describes modern Jerusalem, reunified in 1967, as “a multi-ethnic city, with freedom of religion and free access to holy sites for all Christians, Jews and Moslems.”
Help ensure Jewish news remains accessible to all. Your donation to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency powers the trusted journalism that has connected Jewish communities worldwide for more than 100 years. With your help, JTA can continue to deliver vital news and insights. Donate today.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
