NEWS & VIEWS
Israel / Palestine
Relocation of American Embassy to Jerusalem
Grotius – Center for International Law and Human Rights
News Update
22 September 2018
U.S. Embassy Relocation to Jerusalem is Illegal Pursuant to International Law
Today, Grotius – Center for International Law and Human Rights issued a brief explanation on the relocation of the United States embassy from Tel – Aviv to Jerusalem concluding that it is illegal under international law.
On 7 December 2017 the United States President Donald Trump proclaimed his country’s intention to relocate the American embassy from Tel – Aviv to Jerusalem:
Practical reasons for the relocation notwithstanding, the legal basis for this proclamation is Congress’s Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995. Trump’s proclamation purportedly followed the Oslo and subsequent Accords between Israel and the Palestinians which left the issue of Jerusalem to final status negotiations between the parties by noting that “The United States continues to take no position on any final status issues. The specific boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem are subject to final status negotiations between the parties. The United States is not taking a position on boundaries or borders.”
However, the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995, which references in section 2(1) international law as its terms of reference, relates to the post 1967 Arab - Israel war ‘unified Jerusalem’. This law claims that Israel has since administered the city while guaranteeing faith and other rights for all its inhabitants (sections 2(4), (5), (6), (7)).
The Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/104th-congress/senate-bill/1322/text
Although previous presidents had promised during their presidential campaigns to relocate the American embassy to Jerusalem or that the entire city is Israel’s capital, they traditionally have signed a waiver while in office avoiding deciding on relocation. See: Peter Baker, “An Embassy in Jerusalem? Trump Promises, but So Did Predecessors”, New York Times, 18 November 2016.
Congress’s Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 not only misrepresents the truth about Israel’s conduct in East Jerusalem but is also in contrast to international law. Already following the 1967 Arab - Israel war U.N. Security Council resolution 242 of 22 November 1967 unanimously required Israel to withdraw from territories “occupied in the recent conflict”. U.N. Security Council resolution 252 of 21 May 1968 (U.S. abstained) considered that “all legislative and administrative measures and actions taken by Israel, including expropriation of land and properties therein, which tend to change the legal status of Jerusalem are invalid and cannot change the status of Jerusalem.” U.N. Security Council resolution 271 of 15 September 1969 (U.S. abstained) reiterated Israel’s status in East Jerusalem as an occupying power. U.N. Security Council resolutions 446 of 22 March 1979 (U.K. and U.S. abstained) and 465 of 1 March 1980 (unanimous vote) proclaimed Israeli settlements, including in East Jerusalem, as illegal. U.N. Security Council resolution 478 of 20 August 1980 (U.S. abstained) determined that Israel’s constitutional Basic Law: Jerusalem Capital of Israel is a violation of international law, null, and void:
Censures in the strongest terms the enactment by Israel of the "basic law" on Jerusalem and the refusal to comply with relevant Security Council resolutions;
Affirms that the enactment of the "basic law" by Israel constitutes a violation of international law and does not affect the continued application of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, in the Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied since June 1967,
Including Jerusalem;
Determines that all legislative and administrative measures and actions taken by Israel, the occupying Power, which have altered or purport to alter the character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and in particular the recent "basic law" on Jerusalem, are null and void and must be rescinded forthwith;
The American decision to relocate its embassy to Jerusalem has been met with overwhelming international opposition:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-42250340
In December 2017 the United States vetoed a draft U.N. Security Council resolution which would have considered its embassy relocation irrelevant to changing the status of Jerusalem. This could imply that the United States considers the embassy relocation an act which has affected the political status of Jerusalem, despite the proclamation of President Trump. All permanent and other U.N. Security Council members supported this draft resolution:
The vast majority of foreign embassies in Israel remain located in Tel – Aviv, not in Jerusalem. On 14 May 2018 President Trump’s senior adviser and son in law real-estate developer Jared Kushner delivered a speech at the embassy’s relocation ceremony in which he expressed the myths underlying Congress’s Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qyff5m1Egr0
Executive Director Marwan Dalal commented on Kushner’s speech: “Mr. Kushner’s speech represents the deep ignorance of Middle Eastern history and politics that persists in the United States to this day. Not less importantly, it is a blatant violation of international law. His appointment as a senior adviser for the American President is awkward at best given his knowledge on the one hand and his bias towards Israel on the other.”
For additional information, please contact:
Marwan Dalal, Executive Director