WASHINGTON (JTA) — The quest for formal U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital shifted into high gear this week as four key senators worked to force the Clinton administration to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The lawmakers are working against a deadline set by a 1995 law that imposes financial penalties on the State Department if the embassy is not moved by the end of this month. Because of the way the law is worded, the penalties, which would reduce the budget for construction and maintenance of all State Department posts overseas, would not be felt until later this year.
President Clinton has vowed to postpone the move in the interests of “national security” by using a waiver included in that law, the Jerusalem Embassy Act, as early as June.
Israelis and Palestinians agreed to leave the most contentious issues — including the status of Jerusalem — until final-status talks. Under the Oslo accords, those talks were to have been completed by this week, but they have barely gotten off the ground.
Clinton, who opposed the embassy legislation from the start, has vowed not to move forward on it until Israeli and Palestinian negotiators resolve the final status of the city.
But some members of Congress think the embassy should have been moved already.
By keeping America’s top diplomatic post in Tel Aviv, the United States is giving the Palestinians false expectations, members of Congress have argued.
The United States maintains a consulate in Jerusalem, responsible for contacts with the Palestinians and Americans traveling in the city, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The consul general reports directly to the State Department.
The State Department owns a vacant plot of land in western Jerusalem, presumably for a future embassy.
Angered by the administration’s failure to move the embassy, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) drafted a letter to Clinton announcing his plans to introduce legislation that would take away the president’s ability to issue a waiver. Kyl proposed extending the deadline for “establishing an embassy” in Jerusalem by six months in one draft of the letter and one year in another.
But Kyl’s effort to convince Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) or Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) to sign on to his plan appeared to collapse last week after a lobbying effort by the White House and the State Department.
Schumer, who had negotiated the wording and had planned to sign Kyl’s letter, backed off this week, sources said.
Instead of signing onto Kyl’s plan, the Democratic members united and agreed to wait to press the issue until after Israel’s upcoming elections.
While Kyl has taken a more hard-line stance demanding that the administration move the embassy soon, the Democratic members offered more flexibility over timing.
Sources on Capitol Hill said Kyl’s effort forced the Clinton administration to respond to a March letter from Sen. Daniel Moynihan (D-N.Y.), who wants Clinton to declare his support for a united Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, promise to build an embassy there and, in the interim, designate a site for ambassadorial functions in Jerusalem.
National Security Adviser Sandy Berger responded Wednesday to Moynihan’s letter.
“Both the steps we take and their timing need to be carefully weighed so as not to damage the peace process,” Berger wrote, citing, among other events, the upcoming Israeli elections.
“We want to handle this issue in a way that reflects both our unwavering support for Israel and our interest in a negotiated process that can yield a just and lasting peace,” he wrote. “We must preserve our ability to act effectively during permanent status talks to assist the parties in reaching an agreement.
In a previous private meeting with Moynihan, Berger declared the administration’s intent to comply with the “spirit and letter” of the Jerusalem Embassy Act, according to a source who did not want to be identified.
Berger proposed a meeting in the near future to discuss implementing the administration’s policy, deferring the issue, sources said, until after the Israeli elections.
Moynihan planned to send a response later this week welcoming Berger’s position and reiterating his call to designate a site in Jerusalem for ambassadorial functions.
The embassy maintains a suite of offices in Jerusalem. These offices, once at the LaRomme Hotel, are now at the Jerusalem Hilton Hotel, sources said.