Israel Allies to US: Recognize Jerusalem as Capital
WASHINGTON -- Members of the International Israel Allies Caucus Foundation met in Washington, D.C., this week and called on the United States to recognize Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel.
Several Jewish and Christian leaders, as well as pro-Israel lawmakers, attended the group's Jerusalem Day Prayer Breakfast on Wednesday.
Rep. Allen West, R-Fla.
"Jerusalem is the rightful capital of the Jewish people, and it should stay that way," Rep. Allen West, R-Fla., said. "It should always be unified under one simple flag, that star of David, because that is David's city."
Jerusalem's ties to the Jewish people date back at least 3,000 years, to King David's reign.
The city is mentioned 600 times in the Bible's Old Testament and another 160 times in the New Testament. It is never mentioned in the Koran.
Yet a battle continues to rage today over whether Jerusalem should remain Israel's undivided capital.
Palestinian leaders and their international backers want to split the city in two and make eastern Jerusalem the capital of a future Palestinian state
"We have to be Israel's friend, and I would implore this president, who I just believe in my heart is not Israel's friend, to have a change of heart," Rep. Joe Walsh, R-Ill.,told CBN News.
Legislation was passed on Capitol Hill in 1995 calling for the U.S. Embassy in Israel to be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Seventeen years later and that still has not happened.
In fact, successive administrations - from President Clinton to President Obama - have used a waiver to delay that decision and keep the Embassy in Tel Aviv.
The embassy issue was a major part of the agenda at the Jerusalem Day event.
"For us, the greatest country in the world, the United States of America, the greatest country the world has ever known, to be fearful of moving our embassy to Jerusalem, in my opinion, is a disgrace and we need to do that and do that right now," GOP Florida Senate candidate Dave Weldon said.
Rabbi Benny Elon, president of the Israel Allies Caucus Foundation, told CBN News that the Palestinian claim to Jerusalem was rooted not in history but hostility.
"They don't need Jerusalem," he said. "They just want to make sure that we, the Jews, shall not have it."
Elon called on all American believers in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to put pressure on decision-makers in Washington to remedy the problem.
For full video: http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/insideisrael/2012/June/Caucus-to-US-Acknowledge-Jerusalem-as-Israels-Capital/
