FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Nathan Diament
202-513-6484

OU Commends Introduction of 2011 Jerusalem Embassy Act

Today, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America commended House Europe Subcommittee Chairman Dan Burton, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and House Middle East Subcommittee Chairman Steve Chabot on the introduction of H.R. 1006, the Jerusalem Embassy and Recognition Act of 2011. The bill currently has 14 cosponsors. This legislation will discontinue the Presidential waiver authority contained in the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 (Public Law 104-45), immediately begin the process of relocating the United States Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, and affirm as United States policy that Jerusalem remain the undivided capital of the State of Israel. This legislation also provides timely recognition that “every citizen of Israel should have the right to reside anywhere in the undivided city of Jerusalem.”

Nathan J. Diament, director of the Union’s Institute for Public Policy stated:

This legislation puts to rest illegitimate claims to Jerusalem that have wrongly defined where Israelis can reside and what authority Israel has to govern East Jerusalem. It is time to move the US embassy in Israel to its rightful place in Jerusalem. Just as the United States locates its embassy in the duly designated capitals of other nations, so too it should locate its embassy in Israel’s recognized capital. We thank Reps. Burton, Ros-Lehtinen and Chabot for their leadership on this issue.