Tycoon vows to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s ‘undivided’ capital

WASHINGTON: Republican candidate Donald Trump pledged yesterday to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s “undivided” capital if he is elected president.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met privately with Trump at his residence in Trump Tower a day before the New York billionaire faces off against Democratic rival Hillary Clinton for their first presidential debate. Clinton also met Netanyahu that evening. “Trump acknowledged that Jerusalem has been the eternal capital of the Jewish people for over 3,000 years, and that the United States, under a Trump administration, will finally accept the longstanding congressional mandate to recognise Jerusalem as the undivided capital of the state of Israel,” his campaign said in a statement.

Israel captured the Arab eastern half of Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, and annexed it in 1980, declaring all of Jerusalem Israel’s unified capital.

The United States – and most other UN member countries – do not recognise the annexation and consider Jerusalem’s final status to be a key issue to be resolved in peace negotiations with the Palestinians.

The US Congress passed a law in October 1995 calling for an undivided Jerusalem to be recognised as Israel’s capital and to authorise funding for moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

But no US president – Democrat or Republican – has implemented the law, regarding it as an infringement on the executive branch’s authority over foreign policy. – AFP