‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JERUSALEM’: CONGRESS AFFIRMS YOU RE THE UNIFIED CAPITAL EXCLUSIVELY OF ISRAEL

(Washington, D.C.): With breathtaking swiftness, the
United States Congress yesterday gave overwhelming approval to
legislation directing President Clinton to relocate the American
Embassy in Israel to the capital city of Jerusalem. With a vote
of 93-5, the Senate adopted S.1322 — the Jerusalem Embassy
Relocation Act of 1995. The House immediately followed suit,
adopting by a similarly lopsided (374-38) margin identical
language finding that Jerusalem is the united capital of
Israel — and of only Israel. President Clinton has
indicated that he will sign the Relocation Act, in all likelihood
in time for today’s bipartisan celebration on Capitol Hill of
Jerusalem’s 3,000th anniversary as a Jewish city, which will be
attended by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

This act amounts to a ringing endorsement of American
support for Israeli rights in Jerusalem. It also sends an
unmistakable message that, as Israel proceeds in the so-called
“final status” negotiations with the Palestinian Arabs,
the Jewish State can count on the rock solid support of the
United States for its position on Jerusalem.

S.1322 was sponsored by over 63 Senators led by Majority
Leader Robert Dole. It simply would not have happened though
without the leadership of two preeminent members of the Center
for Security Policy’s Board of Advisors: Sen. Jon Kyl
(R-AZ) and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Douglas
J. Feith.

The Best and the Brightest

In the space of just ten months as a freshman Senator, Sen.
Kyl has established himself as one of the Senate’s most
knowledgeable, principled and courageous members. He has become
particularly influential in defense, intelligence and foreign
policy matters. These qualities previously characterized his
distinguished service in the U.S. House of Representatives and
were recognized by the Center in 1994 when Sen. Kyl received its
prestigious “Keeper of the Flame” award.

It is hardly surprising that Sen. Kyl and other Senators
relied heavily upon the expertise and judgment of Douglas Feith
in the course of lengthy negotiations over S.1322. Mr. Feith —
who also serves as the Center for Security Policy’s General
Counsel — has earned a reputation as one of the Nation’s
preeminent authorities on Middle East policy, for which he was
responsible on the Reagan National Security Council prior to his
service in the Pentagon. When not serving as a resource to the
Center, to Members of Congress and others, he practices law with
the Washington law firm of Feith and Zell.

‘Not So Fast, Mr. President’

While White House press spokesman Michael McCurry sought to
blunt the significance of congressional approval on the Jerusalem
Embassy Relocation Act by announcing yesterday that President
Clinton would exercise the waiver authority it provides, the
President has been put on notice by Senators Dole and Kyl: A
critical part of the legislative history of S.1322 was a colloquy
between them concerning the restrictive nature of that waiver
authority.

As the principal sponsors noted, the President is only
permitted to waive the requirement to open an American embassy in
Jerusalem by May of 1999 if he certifies that doing so would be
contrary to U.S. “national security.” As
Senator Dole observed, that is a narrower and higher standard
than the “national interest”; it is not sufficient, for
example, for the President to believe that such a step would be
inconvenient, counterproductive to the peace process or
deferrable. What is more, his certification will only be valid
for six-months and would have to be renewed for another six-month
period. And Sen. Dole put down the marker that repeated and
routine exercise of such waiver authority would likely prompt
Congress to repeal even this limited authority.

The Center for Security Policy commends Senators Dole and Kyl
and Mr. Feith for their contributions to yesterday’s historic
votes. Congress has now clearly eliminated any basis for Arab
misapprehensions that the United States will be a “neutral
party” or “honest broker” when it comes to
repartitioning Jerusalem or agreeing to transforming it into the
capital of a Palestinian Arab state. As the Center noted in a href=”index.jsp?section=papers&code=95-D_78″>Decision Brief issued on 19 October
1995: “It will improve the prospects for real
peace to adjust Arab expectations about the future status of
Jerusalem.” As such, the Congress could hardly have
given Jerusalem a better birthday present.