Senate Unanimously Passes Resolution Celebrating ’50th Anniversary of the Reunification of Jerusalem’

Jerusalem
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TEL AVIV — The U.S. Senate on Monday unanimously approved a resolution that commemorates the 50th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem.

Resolution 176, which was co-sponsored by 17 senators, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D), signals the legislative body’s bipartisan support for Israel’s position on Jerusalem.

“Jerusalem should remain the undivided capital of Israel in which the rights of every ethnic and religious group are protected,” the resolution states, adding that “there has been a continuous Jewish presence in Jerusalem for three millennia.”

It also says that “Jerusalem is a holy city and the home for people of the Jewish, Muslim and Christian faiths.”

Schumer was a co-sponsor of a 1995 bill called the Jerusalem Embassy Act that supported a relocation of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and formal recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, as well as advocating a two-state outcome based on direct negotiations between Israelis and the Palestinians. The new bill was advanced days after President Donald Trump signed a waiver deferring an embassy transfer.

Senate Resolution 176 “reaffirms the Jerusalem Embassy Act” and “calls upon the President and all United States officials to abide by its provisions.”

In a statement, Schumer said the new resolution “affirms the longstanding policy of the United States government that a just resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can only be achieved through direct, bilateral negotiations without preconditions for a sustainable two-state solution.”

“I am proud to sponsor this resolution, which reaffirms the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 that states Jerusalem should remain an undivided city and Israel’s capital – in which the rights of every ethnic and religious group are celebrated, valued and protected,” he said.

The move was “applauded” by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and, on the other side of the spectrum, by the dovish group J Street.

J Street’s Vice President of Government Affairs Dylan Williams tweeted that the resolution underscored “long-held U.S. policy that Jerusalem’s status is to be decided by the parties in 2-state negotiations.”

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