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Simon Wiesenthal Center Very Disappointed by President Trump’s Decision to Delay Transfer of Embassy to Jerusalem

Admin June 1, 2017

Israel’s Sovereignty over all-historic Capital of the Jewish people non-negotiable; last 50 years prove it is the only way to guarantee religious freedom for all faiths inthe Holy City

“The Simon Wiesenthal Center is very disappointed by President Trump’s decision to delay transfer of the US Embassy to Jerusalem. We are certain that the Trump Administration is very well aware that no Israeli Prime Minister will ever cede sovereignty overJerusalem. The city is and will remain the undivided capital of Israel,” said Rabbis Marvin Hier and Abraham Cooper, the Dean and Founder and the Associate Dean of the leadingJewish Human Rights NGO.

“We note that the President’s aide emphasized that Mr. Trump still intends to make the move which would correct a historic US error - dating back to 1948 — of refusing to recognizeIsrael’s sovereignty over its own capital.“

“Next week’s 50th anniversary of the reunification of the City during the June 1967 Six Day War, marks a half century of full access to holy sites of all faiths in the Old City, afact that should be acknowledged and celebrated by religious leaders of all Abrahamic faiths.

“We remind a forgetful world that dividing Jerusalem again in any way is a non-starter. In 1948, the Jordanian army destroyed the Jewish Quarter and all of it synagogues. It usedheadstones from the Mount of Olives for latrines and barred any Jew from visiting the Western Wall. Never again will the Jewish people allow any outside political or religiousentity to control our people’s most hallowed ground.

“The sooner the world powers, The Vatican, and Israel’s Arab neighbors understand this unalterable fact, the sooner the path to true peace and reconciliation can be reached,” RabbisHier and Cooper concluded.

For more information, please contact the Center's Public Relations Department, 310-553-9036, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow@simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter feed.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO atinternational agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).