A record 93 senators have joined in urging the Clinton administration to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
In a letter delivered to Secretary of State Warren Christopher on Monday, the senators declared that the “U.S. Embassy belongs in Jerusalem.”
But the senators are not calling for an immediate transfer. Instead they have called on the U.S. government to move its embassy “no later than” May 1999, when Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization are scheduled to complete their final-status talks.
Discussion about moving the embassy to Jerusalem are not new. Both houses of Congress have passed resolutions during the past decade recognizing a united Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and urging a transfer of the embassy.
In the wake of the Israeli-PLO self-rule accord signed in September 1993, however, the issue has sparked concern that an immediate transfer would threaten the peace process.
PLO officials have threatened to withdraw from their ongoing negotiations with Israel if the United States moves its embassy.
Circulated by Sens. Alfonse D’Amato (R-N.Y.) and Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D- N.Y.), this week’s letter seeks to head off other members of Congress who are advocating an immediate move.
Moynihan and D’Amato hope to avoid a political confrontation with the PLO, which would endanger the peace process, aides have said.
But in a move that could negate their efforts, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) is considering introducing legislation that would force the State Department to move the embassy to eastern Jerusalem before Oct. 1 of this year.
In their letter this week, the senators acknowledged the explosive nature of the future of Jerusalem, but said:
“The search for peace can only be hindered by raising utterly unrealistically hopes about the future status of Jerusalem among the Palestinians and understandable fears among the Israeli population that their capital city may once again be divided by cinder block and barbed wire.”
As for the record number of senators supporting the initiative, Moynihan said, “U.S. senators do not often agree, but 93 agree that an undivided Jerusalem is the capital of the State of Israel.”
“The world must recognize that an undivided Jerusalem is and shall remain Israel’s capital and nothing will change that,” D’Amato said.
A similar letter in the House of Representatives, circulated by Reps. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Benjamin Gilman, (R-N.Y.) has 84 signatures.
The Clinton administration may already be in sync with the sentiments expressed in the congressional letters. In October, the United States bought a plot of land in western Jerusalem for future “diplomatic use,” where a “very senior diplomat” would live, according to the State Department.
Several Jewish groups expressed support for the Senate initiative.
“For decades, Congress has supported Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and i’m gratified to see a bipartisan and record number of senators once again signal their intention to see the U.S. Embassy moved to its rightful place,” said Neal Sher, executive director of the American Israel public Affairs Committee.
“Nothing would give us more pleasure in the Jewish community than seeing the American flag flying over an American Embassy in Jerusalem with Israel at peace with its neighbors,” said Martin Raffel, director of the Israel Task Force and associate executive vice chairman of the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council.
“The Moynihan-D’Amato approach did a good job of balancing our principled position that the American Embassy belongs in Jerusalem with the needs for the peace process,” Raffel said.
But other Jewish groups are endorsing the bill being considered by Kyl that would require an immediate transfer of the embassy.
According to a draft of the Kyl legislation,”Funds available to the Department of State may be used to maintain and operate the United States Embassy in Israel only if the Embassy is designated to be within the city of Jerusalem.”
`The Christians’ Israel Public Action Campaign is spearheading the effort to gain support for the Kyl bill, though it is not yet clear whether it actually will be introduced.
Americans for a Safe Israel, the Jewish War Veterans and the Zionist Organization of America are among the organizations endorsing the draft bill.
“We should seize on this opportunity and move the embassy as quickly as possible,” said Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, referring to the letter sent by the 93 senators.
However, Capitol Hill aides said the support for the letter was so widespread because the language in the letter defers a move until after the PLO and Israel reach a final agreement.
The seven senators who did not sign this week’s letter were Sens, Spencer Abraham (R-Mich.), Dale Bumpers (D-Ark.), Robert Burd (D-W.Va.), John Chafee (R-R.I.), Mark Hatfield (R-Ore.), James Jeffords (R-Vt.) and David Pryor (D- Ark.).
An aide to Spencer said the senator supported the essence of the letter, but was afraid it would derail peace talks with the Palestinians.
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