Senate marks 50 years of Jerusalem’s reunification

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The U.S. Senate approved a non-binding resolution marking the 50th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem.

The bill, sponsored by Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the majority leader, and Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the minority leader, was approved 90-0 on Monday evening [June 5], the anniversary of Israel’s capture of eastern Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War.

The resolution called on the president to abide by the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Act, which recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and calls for moving the U.S. embassy there from Tel Aviv.

President Donald Trump campaigned on a pledge to move the embassy, however last week authorized a waiver delaying the move for national security reasons.

Notably, the resolution does not endorse a final status solution for the city, instead reaffirming “that it is long-standing U.S. bipartisan policy that the permanent status of Jerusalem remains a matter to be decided between the parties through final status negotiations toward a two-state solution.”

“It is very fitting that the Senate passed this resolution 50 years to the day of the start of the Six Day War,” Schumer said in a statement after the vote.