The Fate of Jerusalem under a President Obama

By Ed Lasky

Senator Obama's newest Middle East Advisor Daniel Kurtzer, of whom we have written about here has recently telegraphed that an Obama Administration will place the fate of Jerusalem as part of the peace process that a future Obama Administration will push.

Of course, this is in opposition to enduring Israeli policy that has held that a united Jerusalem is of paramount importance. Historians will recall that the Jewish and Christian areas under Arab (first Jordanian, then Palestinian control) have been repeatedly degraded, destroyed and abused over many years. The fate of the Jewish population was always in peril when armed forces controlled the eastern part of the city,

Dore Gold in his recent book, "The Fight for Jerusalem: Radical Islam, the West, and the Future of the Holy City" not only covered this history of destruction-and the fact that Jews were denied access to Jewish religious sites in the West Bank-but also noted that a division of Jerusalem would stoke Islamic terror and encourage further violence across the region.

It behooves us to recall that Barack Obama is the only candidate in recent history from either party not to call for the moving of America's Embassy to Jerusalem-a move avidly sought for symbolic and other purposes by Israel that would recognize that Jerusalem is, and forever will remain, the capitol of Israel.

Adding insult to injury, Kurtzer articulated these views in a very undiplomatic way-as a mandatory reuqirement for any peace talks to proceed.

"It will be impossible to make progress on serious peace talks without putting the future of Jerusalem on the table,"

Then Kurtzer continues to inform Israel ( a sovereign nation) that future Israeli governments "will have to deal with the issue of Jerusalem, as opposed to the current Israeli Administration which is not."

This is yet another sign that a future Administration plans quite a different approach towards our ally, Israel, than any previous Adminsitration-whether Democrat or Republican-ever has in recent history.