The Jerusalem Declaration

President Biden and Prime Minister Lapid are expected to sign tomorrow the “The Jerusalem Declaration on the US-Israel Strategic Partnership.” The Times of Israel newspaper quotes a source as saying it will be “a platform for cooperation in the coming years” founded on the “vitality and indispensability” of relations between Israel and America. It pledges the use of “all elements of national power” to stop Iran from getting the bomb. As we watch Israel open its arms to Mr. Biden, though, we can’t help but worry that fine words mask an inconstant record. Mr. Biden voted for — even co-sponsored — the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995. Then, though, he did zilch during his eight years in the White House to advance the embassy move. Those years were rife with spats between Jerusalem and Washington and ended with President Obama leaving Israel to the wolves at the United Nations. Causes for concern abound. Aboard Air Force One, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters, “Our position is that we would like a consulate in East Jerusalem. Obviously that requires engagement with the Israeli government. It requires engagement with the Palestinian leadership as well. And we will continue that engagement on this trip.” It was a shocking formulation in its moral equivalence.These columns have long urged that America stand on the more hawkish side of Israel, always making sure to avoid getting between Israel and her adversaries. The obliviousness to that doctrine on Mr. Sullivan’s part is off-putting. No wonder the White House spokesman, John Kirby, subsequently walked back Mr. Sullivan’s comments. He did not, though, deny the business about wanting to have a Palestinian Arab consulate at the Israeli capital.The consulate-cum-embassy had long served the Palestinian Arabs while America’s Israel embassy was exiled to Tel Aviv. This scheme was shut down by President Trump, who moved our embassy to Jerusalem and gave it responsibility for the Palestinians, too. Mr. Trump could do that because of a principle enunciated by Justice Robert Jackson — that presidential power is at its acme when Congress agrees with the chief executive.Congress did agree, having passed the Jerusalem Embassy Act by almost unanimous votes in the House and Senate. Mr. Trump in a series of courageous steps cut off the cash spigot to the Palestinians and went on to demonstrate, in the Abraham Accords, that once our position on Jerusalem was ratified in action, Arabs states could come forward to make peace. This will assure Mr. Trump’s legacy among all lovers of Zion.What makes Mr. Sullivan’s remarks on Air Force One so alarming is that they are the latest in a pattern. The Biden administration last month upgraded the facility for the Palestinians Arabs, labeling it our office of “Palestinian Affairs in Jerusalem.” It will report not to our Israel embassy, but to a Foggy Bottom filled with a history of hostility to the Jews and the Jewish state. Plus the administration’s pursuit of articles of appeasement with Iran. Plus, too, Mr. Biden is due on Friday to visit the Augusta Victoria Hospital in Jerusalem to announce $100 million from America and a matching $100 million from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. Israeli officials will be excluded, even though the excursion will be entirely in Israel’s capital. Axios reports that a request for an Israeli presence was summarily rejected by the administration. Meantime, Mr. Sullivan also noted that Secretary of State Blinken invited the family of slain Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh back to Washington, and that the administration aims to “engage directly” with them. He added that her death “will be one of the subjects at play in this visit.” This comes after America bruited its opinion that an Israeli bullet “likely” killed her despite no one having reached a “definitive conclusion.”At Yad Vashem Wednesday, Mr. Biden got down on one knee to meet two Holocaust survivors, insisting they need not rise to greet him. That was a gracious gesture. Yet writ large, all Israelis are survivors of the Holocaust, during which the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem sat with Hitler at Berlin. No one asks that the President of America kneel to anyone. No Jerusalem Declaration, though, can excuse maneuvering against the Jewish state at its own capital.

The Jerusalem Declaration

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