Democratic delegates restored to their party platform Wednesday the position that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, reversing an omission that had angered some Jewish organizations and drew criticism from Republicans that President Obama was distancing the United States from its closest ally in the Middle East.
The amendment to the platform, which essentially reinstates the language on Jerusalem from the 2008 version, was introduced by former Ohio governor Ted Strickland. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the convention chairman, asked three times for "aye" votes before determining that the amendment had a two-thirds majority. The vote was far from decisive, however, and angered many delegates who opposed the reinstatement of the language.
At the same time, the change did not go as far as some delegates or Jewish organizations had wanted. An Obama campaign official said the president intervened Wednesday to strengthen the platform language on Jerusalem. The language reads, "Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel. The parties have agreed that Jerusalem is a matter for final status negotiations. It should remain an undivided city accessible to people of all faiths."
Also restored from the 2008 platform was language calling for a government that "gives everyone willing to work hard the chance to make the most of their God-given potential," the Associated Press reported.
Some major Jewish organizations, while expressing disappointment in the new platform statement on Jerusalem, described it nonetheless as strongly supportive of Israel and not likely to generate widespread Jewish antipathy toward Obama before Election Day.
The U.S. government does not formally recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital - its embassy is in Tel Aviv - because Palestinians also claim the holy city as the capital of their future state. Israel occupied East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East War and later annexed it, although the move is not recognized internationally.
WASHINGTON POST
