East Side, West Side

Google Earth screen shot

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CNN had an explainer this week on why moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is so controversial. It covered the 1949 Armistice Line that functions as the border between the East (and Arab) and West sides of the city, the Jerusalem Embassy Act, and the U.S. position up to now. But it overlooked a remarkable geographical oddity about one of U.S. Consulate-General Jerusalem's properties.

If you go to Google Earth and search for "U.S. Consulate Jerusalem" it will lead you to a location at the street address of Number 14 David Flusser Street, in the Arnona neighborhood. That is not actually THE Consulate-General in Jerusalem, but rather a consular annex where visa and American Citizen Services work is conducted. (The State Department's telephone directory and Key Officers List has three separate addresses for CG Jerusalem in different parts of the city, but ignore that for now.)

Make sure the Google Earth 'borders and labels' layer is activated, and you'll see a red line that goes through the CG property in Arnona, and even right through the office building on the property. That is the UN's 1949 Armistice Agreement line that marked the ceasefire between Israeli and Jordanian-Iraqi military forces in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. And, as CNN explained, it operates as the border between East and West Jerusalem. 

Now, of course, I'm not suggesting anything about anything. But I'm surprised no journalist or commentator has pointed out that the CG operates a property in Jerusalem that literally straddles the Armistice Line, and therefore could, maybe, finesse the difference between East and West sides.   
 

H. R. 1006, Jerusalem Embassy and Recognition Act of 2011, Introduced By Rep. Burton

Twice a year, every year since 1995, every occupant of the White House has signed a waiver of the Jerusalem Embassy Act (see this), thereby hitting the snooze button on legislation that would require the Secretary of State to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel. Severe political and diplomatic complications would abound if a SecState did that, hence the long bi-partisan series of waivers.

Today, Congressman Dan Burton of Indiana introduced a bill called the Jerusalem Embassy and Recognition Act of 2011 that removes the waiver provision of the Jerusalem Embassy Act and forces that recognition. One of his co-sponsors is Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, so this bill might be more than just a symbolic effort.

Here is the key section of the bill:

STATEMENT OF POLICY - It is the policy of the United States that the United States Embassy in Israel should be established in Jerusalem as soon as possible, but not later than January 1, 2013.

OPENING DETERMINATION - Not more than 50 percent of the funds appropriated to the Department of State for fiscal year 2013 for `Acquisition and Maintenance of Buildings Abroad' may be obligated until the Secretary of State determines and reports to Congress that the United States Embassy in Jerusalem has officially opened.

The bill's enforcement mechanism is the restriction of funds for State's overseas buildings. In other words, unless an embassy is designated somewhere in Jerusalem by New Years Day of 2013, the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) will get only half the money it needs to build new fortress embassies, or to fix the leaking roofs and broken air conditioners in the present embassy office buildings.

This is only a bill, and still far from becoming a law. Could it pass both houses of Congress and be signed by the President? I don't know, but, one should never underestimate the self-interest of our elected officials when an election year is upon them.

Next Year in Jerusalem? Unlikely.

President Obama has signed his second suspension of Public Law 104-45, the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995. The Act required that the U.S. Secretary of State recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel and establish a U.S. embassy in Jerusalem no later than May 31, 1999, or else the Department loses 50 percent of the funds appropriated to the Department of State for fiscal year 1999 for ‘‘Acquisition and Maintenance of Buildings Abroad’’ until such time as the Secretary of State complies.

To comply with the Act is not feasible for political, diplomatic, and constitutional reasons too numerous and contentious to list here. So, every President since 1995 has invoked the waiver authority given him by Section 7 of the Act to suspend the funding limitations for six-month intervals, just like hitting the snooze button on a legislative alarm clock.

Here's the text of the current Presidential Memorandum - Suspension of Limitations Under the Jerusalem Embassy Act:

Presidential Determination No. 2010-03

MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE

SUBJECT: Suspension of Limitations Under the Jerusalem Embassy Act

Pursuant to the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, including section 7(a) of the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 (Public Law 104-45) (the "Act"), I hereby determine that it is necessary, in order to protect the national security interests of the United States, to suspend for a period of 6 months the limitations set forth in sections 3(b) and 7(b) of the Act.

You are hereby authorized and directed to transmit this determination to the Congress, accompanied by a report in accordance with section 7(a) of the Act, and to publish the determination in the Federal Register.

Suspension shall take effect after transmission of this determination and report to the Congress.

BARACK OBAMA