12/6/17, "Dershowitz: Recognizing J'lem 'perfect response' to Obama," Israel National News, Tal Polon
"Former Harvard Law School Professor Alan Dershowitz says that US President Donald Trump’s official recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is the “perfect response” to “President Obama’s outrageous orchestration” of UN Security Council Resolution 2334 during the waning weeks of his presidency.
That resolution defined Israeli construction in Judea and Samaria and eastern Jerusalem as a “flagrant violation of international law” with “no legal validity” and demanded Israel immediately cease all construction in those areas, deemed by the resolution "occupied Palestinian territory." The US abstained from voting on the resolution, allowing it to pass.
Later, reports emerged, corroborated by the Israeli government, that the Obama administration had not only allowed the passage of the resolution, but had played an active role in promoting it.
Speaking to Fox News today, Dershowitz said, “I think President Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is the perfect response to President Obama’s outrageous orchestration of the Security Council resolution which he pushed through as a lame duck, that declared the Western Wall to be illegally occupied territory, the Hebrew University, Hadassah Hospital, the Jewish Quarter - according to this resolution that was basically pushed through by Obama, these are outrageously flagrant violations of international law.”
“The best response to that horrible resolution is for the President to say, 'we don’t accept the UN resolution, and the best proof of it is, we’re going to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel,'” Dershowitz asserted.
“You say it’s occupied, we say it’s the capital.”"
More on Obama backed resolution: 2/14/17, "Trump-Netanyahu meeting can expose Obama collusion on Resolution 2334," Israel National News, David Singer
"The Egyptian newspaper Al-Youm Al-Sabea was the first to allege American collusion in promoting Resolution 2334."
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Added #1: Clinton, Bush, and Obama all promised to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital but failed to do so. George Bush "even said he would “start the process as soon as I’m sworn in.”"..."Bill Clinton declared in February 1992, at the height of the Democratic primaries, that he supported recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital." Later in the campaign Clinton "promised that he and running mate Al Gore would “support Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel.”...
12/6/17, "FLASHBACK: All The Times Past Presidents Promised To Move US Embassy To Jerusalem," Daily Caller, Saagar Enjeti
"President Donald Trump will begin the formal process of moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem Wednesday and recognize the city as Israel’s capital, actually fulfilling a campaign pledge many of his predecessors made.
The process of moving the embassy could take years and puts the U.S. in compliance with Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995. Each president since the act’s passage has signed a waiver every six months while in office, keeping the embassy in the city of Tel-Aviv for national security concerns.
Former President Bill Clinton made Jerusalem a campaign issue in 1992, attacking then-former President George H.W. Bush for having allegedly “repeatedly challenged Israel’s sovereignty over a united Jerusalem” and vowing to move the embassy during his administration.
Clinton, however, believed moving the embassy and recognizing the capital may derail his many attempts at brokering a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians.
The cycle appeared to repeat itself once again during the 2000 U.S. presidential election when former President George W. Bush castigated Clinton for failing to follow through on his embassy promise and vowing to get the process started in his few months in office. Bush never made a concerted effort towards moving the embassy and became embroiled his own Middle East conflicts.
Former President Barack Obama himself never attacked Bush or Clinton for not moving the embassy to Jerusalem but declared in a 2008 campaign speech, “Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided.”
The Obama administration similarly never pursued a serious effort at moving or declaring Jerusalem the capital of Israel formally, even taking a case all the way to the Supreme Court to block American citizens born in Jerusalem to list Israel as their place of birth." (See below)
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Added #2: In 2009, Obama began court proceedings that ended in his favor in 2015 in the Supreme Court. The decision ended need for US government discussion as to whether Jerusalem was Israel's capital or any part of Israel, saying it was up to individual presidents to acknowledge or withhold recognition of nation states:
6/18/2015, "Supreme Court Sides With Obama on Jerusalem Passport Row," Reuters
"Appealed from: United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (July 10, 2009) The U.S. Embassy refused to record the place of birth of Petitioner Menachem Zivotofsky as “Jerusalem, Israel.”"...
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Added #3: From Haaretz, more on Jerusalem campaign statements by Bill Clinton and George W. Bush (Obama isn't mentioned in Haaretz article. 2008 NY Times article below discusses Obama statements):
12/6/17, "From Bill Clinton to Trump: The Never-ending Story of the Jerusalem Embassy Move," Haaretz, Amir Tibon (Orig. published Feb. 5, 2017, republished 12/6/17)
"By the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and relocating the embassy became more common for policy debate – and for campaign promises. Bill Clinton declared in February 1992, at the height of the Democratic primaries, that he supported recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, a step that would alter U.S. policy."...
[Ed. note: Three years later in 1995, the Jerusalem Embassy Act was passed by wide margins in both houses of Congress. The bill stated that the American embassy should move to Jerusalem within five years. Bill Clinton refused to sign the bill.]
(continuing): "Later, during the general election campaign, Clinton attacked President George H.W. Bush for having “repeatedly challenged Israel’s sovereignty over a united Jerusalem.” He promised that he and running mate Al Gore would “support Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel.”...
By 1995, the administration found itself opposing the Jerusalem Embassy Act, which was passed by wide margins in both houses of Congress, but was left unsigned by Clinton. The bill stated that the American embassy should move to Jerusalem within five years. The last three U.S. presidents have all made sure to sign a waiver every six months, putting away the implementation of this legislation....
In the 2000 election campaign, George W. Bush clearly promised to move the embassy and attacked Clinton for failing to deliver on his promise. At one point he even said he would “start the process as soon as I’m sworn in.” Bush made that promise in front of leading Jewish organizations including AIPAC and the American Jewish Committee. But like Clinton before him, once Bush entered the White House, it didn’t take long for him to walk back his promise."...
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Added #4: 2008 Obama campaign statements regarding Jerusalem:
6/7/2008, "Obama’s Comments on Israel Stir Criticism in U.S.," NY Times, Larry Rohter
"The morning after claiming the Democratic nomination, Senator Barack Obama spoke to skeptical members of a pro-Israel lobby and made a pledge that some of them found pleasantly surprising: “Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided.”...
Over the last 24 hours, as Mr. Obama and his campaign have sought to explain his initial remarks, and suggested that an undivided Jerusalem would be hard to achieve, they have been accused of backtracking....
Mr. Obama’s speech on Wednesday in Washington to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee came just hours after he claimed the Democratic presidential nomination. As such, and especially in view of doubts that Jewish groups have expressed about his commitment to Israel, it was “a major platform and a major speech, and he knew that everyone would be listening,” said Nathan Diament, public policy director for the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America....
His remarks about Jerusalem received the most enthusiastic response. Mr. Diament said, “My organization and constituents were very excited when we heard him on Wednesday making what seemed to our ears to be a very clear and declarative statement, something different from what he had said before, but which he is now circling back towards in his clarifying statements yesterday and today.”
In the Middle East, however, reaction to Mr. Obama’s speech, which was broadcast live on several Arab-language television stations, was immediate, and strongly negative....
“This statement is totally rejected,” said Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority. He added, “We will not accept a Palestinian state without having Jerusalem as the capital.”...
An
article on Friday in The Jerusalem Post sought to clarify Mr. Obama’s
stance further. In it, an unnamed foreign policy adviser to Mr. Obama
was quoted as saying that the candidate’s position is that “Jerusalem
remains Israel’s capital and it’s not going to be divided by barbed wire
and checkpoints as it was in 1948-1967.”
That formulation does not rule out the city simultaneously serving as the capital of a Palestinian state or Palestinians’ being granted control of some Arab neighborhoods there."...
That formulation does not rule out the city simultaneously serving as the capital of a Palestinian state or Palestinians’ being granted control of some Arab neighborhoods there."...
Added #5:
6/18/2015, "Supreme Court Sides With Obama on Jerusalem Passport Row," Reuters
"Appealed from: United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (July 10, 2009) The U.S. Embassy refused to record the place of birth of Petitioner Menachem Zivotofsky as “Jerusalem, Israel.”"...
In 2009 Obama established the case as US State Dept. vs petitioner. The case was first named Zivotofsky v. [Hillary] Clinton, because it began when Hillary Clinton was Sec. of State. After Hillary was gone, John Kerry's name was inserted, and the case was called "Zivotofsky vs [Sec. of State] Kerry".
Additional source on Obama's Supreme Court victory:
June 8, 2015, "Supreme Court strikes down law in Jerusalem passport case," CNN Supreme Court Reporter, Ariane de Vogue
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