In the past few days, there have been a number of high-profile slights of Israel that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump doesn’t want anyone to think escaped his notice.
Last week, after his eulogy at the funeral of former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres—considered by many to be a “founding father” of the Jewish state—a reference to Jerusalem being part of Israel was stricken from the transcript of President Obama’s speech. Then, on Thursday, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization determined the Temple Mount and Western Wall are “exclusively Muslim” holy sites.
Following the latest slap in the face for Israel, Trump said he had to respond. He issued an official statement Friday morning, denouncing both actions.
“I have said on numerous occasions that in a Trump administration, the United States will recognize Jerusalem as the one true capital of Israel,” he said. “The United Nations’ attempt to disconnect the State of Israel from Jerusalem is a one-sided attempt to ignore Israel’s 3,000-year bond to its capital city, and is further evidence of the enormous anti-Israel bias of the UN.
Trump went on to call Jerusalem the “enduring capital of the Jewish people,” noting that “an overwhelming majority of Congress” has already voted to recognize just that.
“Further, the decision by the Obama administration to strike the word ‘Israel’ after the word ‘Jerusalem’ in the President’s prepared text was a capitulation to Israel’s enemies, and a posthumous embarrassment to Shimon Peres, whose memory the president was attempting to honor,” he added. “In a Trump administration, Israel will have a true, loyal and lasting friend in the United States of America.”
