Israel: Celebrating Centenary Of Mandate For Palestine’s Land Rights, Part 2

UK Foreign Office Continues to Reward PalArabs’ Intransigence While Penalizing Israel

As mentioned above, the PalArabs refused to acknowledge the Jewish connection to the Land of Israel, including Jerusalem, not recognizing the city as Israel’s capital. At the same time, Britain’s Foreign Office rewards PalArab obstinacy while penalizing Israel about its sovereignty.

The Jewish people’s connection to their capital, Jerusalem, cannot be disputed. The city has never been the capital of any other nation but the Nation of Israel. It is possible that the status of Jerusalem would be determined through negotiation. However, should there be a Palestinian state, no one knows the finalized borders between the two countries. It is also possible that for a future Palestinian state the current British consulate in Jerusalem might be in the wrong place after all. 

And if, according to Britain’s behavior, Jerusalem “must” be shared by the two parties, then why does Britain not move its Embassy to modern “west” Jerusalem and thus recognize some part of the city as Israel’s capital, just as all Israelis do?

Since 1948, Jerusalem has been the capital of the state of Israel, the third Jewish commonwealth. The city is the seat of the government of Israel, including the Prime Minister’s office, the President’s office, the Israel parliament, the Knesset, and the Supreme Court, all located in “west” Jerusalem since Israel gained its independence in 1948.

Britain should not continue to pretend that Tel Aviv, founded in 1909, is Israel’s capital. It is not. Jerusalem has been the capital of the Jewish people for 3000 years, since King David assigned the city as the Capital of his kingdom.

By relocating its embassy from Tel-Aviv to “west” Jerusalem Britain is not committing itself to supporting Israel’s claim to all of Jerusalem but is recognizing Israel’s sovereignty as it should.

The more important issue is the current location of the British “embassy” to the Palestinian Authority (PA), now in Jerusalem. After all, Ramallah is where the PA’s government operates; it is the place where President Mahmoud Abbas has his offices, where the PA parliament meets, where all their government offices are to be found. It makes no sense for British diplomats to constantly travel from Jerusalem to Ramallah each time they need to meet with PA officials. Making the right move is my suggestion to the British Foreign Office.