Mitt Romney slammed the Democratic platform’s omission of language referring to Jerusalem as Israel’s capital (only the second time, as I noted previously, that such language has been missing from a Democratic platform since 1972).
Here’s what the GOP nominee had to say:
It is unfortunate that the entire Democratic Party has embraced President Obama’s shameful refusal to acknowledge that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital. Four years of President Obama’s repeated attempts to create distance between the United States and our cherished ally have led the Democratic Party to remove from their platform an unequivocal acknowledgment of a simple reality. As president, I will restore our relationship with Israel and stand shoulder to shoulder with our close ally.
A Democratic National Committee spokesman explained the issue as follows:
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The Obama Administration has followed the same policy towards Jerusalem that previous U.S. Administrations of both parties have done since 1967. As the White House said several months ago, the status of Jerusalem is an issue that should be resolved in final status negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians – which we also said in the 2008 platform. We will continue to work with the parties to resolve this issue as part of a two state solution that secures the future of Israel as a Jewish state and the homeland of the Jewish people.
The National Jewish Democratic Council and Republican Jewish Coalition have also both weighed in.
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