State Department Sets Aside Democratic Platform on Jerusalem and Moving U.S. Embassy As Not Binding

The Democratic Party’s platform describing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and recommending transfer of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem was set aside by the State Deportment Friday.

“The President makes foreign policy: it is not made by party platforms, ” State Department David Passage said. He also said the State Deportment is not “legally bound” by platforms and he would not discuss the plank. “The State Department does not speak about party platforms,” he said.

Passage referred to President Carter’s Aug. 13 written message to the Democratic National Convention in New York regarding the party’s platform in which he stated that “Jerusalem should remain forever undivided, with free access to the holy places for people of all faiths.”

MUSKIE’S VIEW OF JERUSALEM LAW

The President and the State Department have said that the ultimate status of Jerusalem is to be negotiated. Secretary of State Edmund Muskie, in on interview at the convention with ABC-TV, said with respect Jerusalem law that the Jerusalem issue Obviously is part of the Camp David process.

Muskie added, “But there is a feeling in the Arab world that Israel is seeking to foreclose on any meaningful debate of that issue in the Camp David accords. The reaction in the Arab world, and indeed in the rest of the world, is very negative on that. It has sparked an emotional reaction in the Arab world which has resulted in the Saudi statement.” This was in reference to Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Fald’s call for “holy war” by Islamic nations against Israel.

Jerusalem is not mentioned in the Camp David agreements but is in side letters accompanying the accords. By insisting that Jerusalem is in the “Camp David process, “the Carter Administration is apparently stretching the meaning and letter of the accords since Israel stated at the time of the accords to the U.S. and Egypt, as well as previously and since, that unified Jerusalem is Israel’s capital. Within the West Bank Gaza autonomy talks, the immediate issue is whether the Arabs in Jerusalem should vote in the West Bank Gaza elections as Egypt insists, reportedly with U.S. support.

SEPARATING EAST JERUSALEM FROM ISRAEL

How the State Department is moving to separate East Jerusalem from Israel was indicated in a reply by the State Department to a reporter’s question. Following are the questions and answers posted by the Department Aug. 14 for the media:

“Q. Doesn’t the status of Jerusalem come into direct question when you talk about whether the people living there, on the east side of the city, should be allowed to vote as part of the West Bank autonomy plan?”

“A. No. The participation of Arabs living in East Jerusalem in the autonomy elections would not determine the final status of East Jerusalem. The final status of Jerusalem can only be determined through negotiations among the parties concerned.”

With the talks at a standstill, the State Department said Friday that special negotiator Sol Linowitz may go to Cairo and Jerusalem the first week in September to seek their resumption but no date has been set. Passage said that Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s call for a summit conference with Carter, Sadat and Israeli Premier Menachem Begin “underscores the desirability to start the talks again”, but he would not comment on the proposal itself.

Passage said that whether the talks start on a lower committee level, among ministers or at the summit is up to Israel and Egypt. “They are the principal actors and need to make the decision for the best procedure. “he said. Passage rejected the view that the talks be resumed after the Presidential election Nov. 4, saying, “It is desirable for negotiations to resume as soon as possible.”

Passage reiterated that Jewish settlements on the West Bank are “illegal under international law” when asked about reports that Israel plans to build four new settlements. He also deplored Israel’s attack last Thursday on Palestinian terrorist posts in southern Lebanon as “continuing the cycle of violence. Tension is again on the rise, ” he said, and the U.S. “asks all to act with restraint.”

(Israel launched a three-pronged raid — by land, air and sea — against two terrorist bases north of Tyre and north of Sidon and leveled them. An army spokesman said the bases were being used by terrorists to prepare for new attacks against Israel. A number of terrorists were killed and all Israeli forces returned safely to their bases, the spokesman said. He said the raid was taken within the context of preventive action.)