If even the White House refuses to call Jerusalem Israel’s capital, you might think the United Nations surely wouldn’t either. But in one official document, the UN unequivocally lists Jerusalem as Israel’s capital — with no ifs, ands or
If even the White House refuses to call Jerusalem Israel’s capital, you might think the United Nations surely wouldn’t either. But in one official document, the UN unequivocally lists Jerusalem as Israel’s capital — with no ifs, ands or buts.
It’s an anomaly that highlights the ongoing dispute over Jerusalem’s status — in diplomatic and media circles — 62 years after Israel proclaimed it the capital, 45 years after it captured the Old City and East Jerusalem in the 1967 war, and 32 years after it then claimed the “complete, united city” as its capital.
The 2011 edition of the UN’s World Statistics Pocketbook lists Jerusalem as Israel’s “capital city” — not the country’s “seat of government” (like the BBC), and not noting that it lacks “international recognition” and that its final status needs to be determined by negotiations with the Palestinians (like the US tends to).
“Capital city and population in 2011 – Jerusalem 790,000,” the pocketbook, which was published this year in New York by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs’ Statistics Division, states of the city on page 98.
Surprisingly, too, the capital of the “Occupied Palestinian Territory” is not listed as East Jerusalem. Rather, the book identifies Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority’s administrative offices, as capital.
A note inside the pocketbook states that its designation “of any specific city as a capital city is done solely on the basis of the designation as reported by the country or area.”
That’s exactly the point Israeli officials make when faced with people or institutions who refuse to call Jerusalem the capital: every country has the right to decide its own capital. But it begs a question: Why, then, is Ramallah listed as the Palestinian capital, when that’s surely not “the designation as reported by the country or area”?
In response to a Times of Israel query, a Jerusalem-based UN official said that, the statistics book notwithstanding, the UN’s position vis-a-vis Israel’s capital is based on past Security Council resolutions. “According to these resolutions, the United Nations does not recognize Israel’s claim that ‘Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel.’ It also rejects the State of Israel’s definition of the boundaries of the city including East Jerusalem and territory east of the Green Line in the occupied Palestinian Territory.”
“The UN Secretary-General has repeatedly emphasized that the International community does not recognize Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem, which remains part of occupied Palestinian territory, and that the status of the city as the capital of two states — Israel and a state of Palestine — must be resolved through negotiations,” added the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
In private conversations, UN officials said the book’s characterization of the capitals of Israel and the Palestinian territory contradict the UN’s political position and should be amended in future editions.
The diplomats’ view
For most Israelis, the matter is self-evident — even Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai happily admits that Zion trumps his metropolis on the Mediterranean. “We are Israel’s financial center and cultural center. But there’s one thing we are not: We are not Israel’s capital,” he said last week.
But in the international arena, the debate about J