opinion
Recognizing That Western
Jerusalem Is Israel’s Capital
Should Not be Controversial
BY DR. ERIC R. MANDEL
his month, Australian Foreign Minister Penny
Wong reversed the previous government’s
decision to recognize Western Jerusalem as
Israel’s capital. The question that should be asked
is why that recognition was controversial at all.

No fair-minded person who believes in two
states for two peoples thinks Israel should not be
entitled to at least the western part of Jerusalem
in any future settlement with the Palestinians. This
principle has been part of every peace proposal
in recent memory and the area has been in pos-
session of the Jewish state since it was founded.

On multiple occasions, Israel offered the east-
ern part of Jerusalem to the Palestinian Arabs as
their capital. It was repeatedly turned down. That
is because the real problem, unacknowledged
by Australia’s recently elected left-leaning gov-
ernment, is that the Palestinians and their current
leadership refuse to accept a Jewish state in any
part of the Land of Israel.

Israel is the only country in the world whose
capital is not recognized by the overwhelming
majority of the world’s countries. If Israel were
any state other than Jewish, the international
community would have, at minimum, accepted
the western half of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital
while leaving the disputed eastern half for a future
settlement. The United States has gone much further, not
only recognizing all of Jerusalem as Israel’s cap-
ital but moving its embassy to the city. President
Joe Biden, to his credit, has not moved the
embassy back to Tel Aviv, despite pressure from
the pro-Palestinian left-wing of his party.

After Russia, of all places, recognized western
Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 2017, international
law scholar Eugene Kontorovich wrote, “There’s
no good reason to maintain the charade that
Jerusalem is not Israeli.”
As a Jerusalem Post editorial recently stated,
“How ironic it is that the Russians, whose rela-
tionship with Israel is now being strained by the
war in Ukraine, have not reversed their Jerusalem
move, while Australia, considered among Israel’s
best friends in the world, has done just that. …
They have said that western Jerusalem, the coun-
try’s capital since 1948, is up for negotiations. …
It reinforces the rejectionist tendency amid the
Palestinians.” Critics have claimed that to acknowledge any
part of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital prejudges the
final settlement of a sensitive issue. But if the west-
18 OCTOBER 27, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
ern half of Jerusalem is considered up for nego-
tiation, it means that not only are the Palestinians
laying claim to the entire city, but the international
community acknowledges Palestinian claims on
Israel within the 1949 armistice lines.

The excuse that the U.N. partition plan of
1947 envisioned Jerusalem as an international
city should have disappeared when the Arabs
attacked Israel within five hours of its creation.

Every part of Jerusalem the Arabs controlled was
emptied of Jews. Almost all of Eastern Jerusalem’s
synagogues were destroyed, and Jewish prop-
erty was desecrated. Jewish tombstones from
the Mount of Olives were used for building mate-
rials. Jews were not allowed to enter the Old
City of Jerusalem, which contains their holiest
sites, despite international guarantees that they
would be able to do so. Under Israeli rule, Jews,
Christians and Muslims can all visit and pray at
their holy sites.

In short, Wong’s claim that recognizing Western
Jerusalem as Israel’s capital would undermine a
final settlement to the conflict is disingenuous.

Her government’s decision rewards a weak and
corrupt Palestinian Authority, which is supporting
an ongoing insurrection in Judea and Samaria
and glorifies terrorists as martyrs.

Wong called for a two-state solution, not a two
states for two peoples solution. The Palestinian
goal is a one-state solution. For them, that means
a de-Judaized state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza,
and a binational state within the 1949 armistice
lines with an unlimited right of return for descen-
dants of Palestinian refugees.

The Australian move to end recognition of
Western Jerusalem as the Israeli capital rewards
Palestinian maximalism while undermining the
possibility of a resolution to the conflict in which
both sides would have to make significant con-
cessions. JE
Dr. Eric R. Mandel is the director of the Middle
East Political Information Network. He is also the
senior security editor for the Jerusalem Report.

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Welcome to the inaugural Best of Jewish Philadelphia.

The Jewish Exponent has polled the Greater Philadelphia Jewish community
about its favorite things. And you responded in dozens of categories ranging
from camps to schools to eateries to Jewish organizations.

And now, after tallying the votes, our fi rst-ever results are in.

Read on to see the Best of Jewish Philadelphia winners that represent a
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