posted on Jun, 14 2011 @ 02:08 PM
Obama Corrupts Jerusalem Embassy Act
by Maggie at Maggie's Notebook
The Jerusalem Embassy Act commitment was deep-sixed on Friday night after Obama et al removed a critical sentence from the agreement. Friday night
shenanigans are well-underway, but I must say, the word "shenanigan" has far too frivolous a tone for what is actually happening.
Barack Obama
Our President has rendered a commitment to Israel "gone," as though it never existed. The history is that in 1995 Congress passed the Jerusalem
Embassy Act to insure that the U.S. Embassy in Israel would be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem because Israel considers Jerusalem it's nation's
capitol, and Israel has the right to designate their capitol. The U.S. Embassy was mandated to take up its Jerusalem presence by May 31, 1999, but
today, our Embassy remains in Tel Aviv.
As bureaucrats are wont to do, for one reason or the other, every six months since May 31, 1999 a "Presidential Determination," in the form of a
memo has been sent to the U.S. Secretary of State, titled "Suspension of Limitations Under the Jerusalem Embassy Act." The memo with the hefty title
is simply a legal waiver moving the deadline for our Embassy's Jerusalem presence forward another six months. This has been going now, all these long
years.
But now, everything has changed, just as so much has changed since January 20, 2009. The memo went out as usual, but with one big change. A sentence
has been completely excised from the memo:
My Administration remains committed to beginning the process of moving our embassy to Jerusalem.
So on a Friday evening when not many are paying attention, we find that Barack Obama has undone what Congress did in 1995 with the Senate adopting the
Jerusalem Embassy Act by a vote of 95 to 5, and House doing the same with a vote of 374-37.
It appears that Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton believed that Congressional authority through their vote is, in reality, only an
"advisory," because it "impermissibly interferes with the President's constitutional authority." If the U.S. Constitution places the conduct of
foreign policy in the hands of the President, then any resolutions Congress makes are possibly invalid.
If the above is assumption is correct, the only power Congress has is to deny funding - in this case - for the establishment of a new Embassy in
Jerusalem. To date, Congress has not denied funding for a U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem.
The website Palestine Facts says that the Clinton White House:
...refused to move the embassy citing harm to America's national security, believing that it would interfere with peace process negotiations. In
fact, the Act gave the U.S. President a "waiver authority" under which he could suspend the [implementation] for a period of six months if he
determines and reports to Congress in advance that such suspension is necessary to protect the national security interests of the United States.
Both Presidents Clinton and Bush used this waiver to postpone any change, fearful of the reaction of Palestinian Arabs, even though Bush promised to
move the embassy if elected in 2000. The US refusal to act on the embassy move, leaving Israel as the only country in the world where the US embassy
is not in the designated capital city, has encouraged Palestinian Arabs to believe they may eventually succeed in driving Israel out of Jerusalem.
Although President G. W. Bush campaigned on the Embassy move, we know that never happened. He began waffling soon after taking office. I think Bush,
however, added the sentence:
My Administration remains committed to beginning the process of moving our embassy to Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem Embassy Act commitment has gone to feed the fishes. As of today, the "commitment" sentence is missing and the only option seems to be
that we have Barack Obama's non-commitment to establishing a U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem - which he wants to cede to the Palestinians.
Now Our President has ordered this,so what is up?...He just passed this.
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release June 03, 2011
Presidential Memorandum--Jerusalem Embassy Act
June 3, 2011
Presidential Determination
No. 2011-10
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.
This suspension shall take effect after transmission of this determination and report to the Congress.
BARACK OBAMA