75 Years Since Ben-Gurion Proclaimed Jerusalem as Israel’s Undivided Capital
A Legacy of Struggle and Fight for Jewish Roots
On December 13, 1949, Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion issued a pivotal proclamation, firmly establishing Jerusalem as Israel's undivided capital. This declaration came as a direct response to the United Nations' attempts to deny Israel its rightful sovereignty over the city. Ben-Gurion’s words were not just political statements but a powerful assertion of the deep historical, religious, and national connection between the Jewish people and Jerusalem, a connection that spans thousands of years.
Jewish History and Sovereignty in Jerusalem: A Legacy of Struggle
The Jewish bond to Jerusalem is not a modern political claim but one grounded in millennia of history. For over 3,000 years, Jerusalem has been the spiritual and political heart of the Jewish people. King David made it the capital of the Kingdom of Israel around 1000 BCE, and it remained central to Jewish identity throughout history. The building of the First Temple by King Solomon, and the Second Temple, destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE, are landmarks in a continuous Jewish narrative of connection to this city.
Even after the Roman conquest and the destruction of the Second Temple, Jews continued to long for their return to Jerusalem. Over the centuries, despite exile, Jerusalem remained central to Jewish prayers, rituals, and dreams. The long period of subjugation, under Roman, Byzantine, and later Islamic rule, did not sever the Jewish people’s attachment to the city. Throughout this time, Jews maintained a presence in Jerusalem, often marginalized but never relinquishing their connection to the city.
The Jewish people’s connection to Jerusalem and their struggle for sovereignty over it is deeply symbolized by the celebration of Hanukkah. This festival commemorates the Maccabean revolt in Judea in the 2nd century BCE, when the Jewish people fought against the Seleucid Empire, which had desecrated the Temple. The Maccabees’ victory was not just military—it was a triumph of Jewish sovereignty over foreign domination, and a restoration of Jewish control over their holiest site in Jerusalem.
The struggle for Jerusalem is not new; it is part of a long and ongoing battle for the right to live freely in the city, to pray in its holy places, and to preserve its Jewish identity. Just as the Maccabees fought to regain sovereignty over the Temple, so too are the Jewish people in the 21th century fighting for Jerusalem’s recognition as Israel’s capital.
The UN’s Denial of History and Jewish Rights
In the aftermath of World War II and the Holocaust, when the Jewish people were finally granted a state in their historic homeland, the question of Jerusalem’s status was raised once again. In 1947, the United Nations passed Resolution 181, recommending the internationalization of Jerusalem. This resolution proposed turning Jerusalem into a city under international control, as if the Jewish people’s centuries-old ties to the city were inconsequential. The UN’s decision was an attempt to ignore the historical and religious reality that Jerusalem had always been the heart of Jewish identity.
Despite these efforts, Israel declared its independence in 1948, and Jerusalem became the focal point of a new conflict. The UN’s rejection of Jewish sovereignty over Jerusalem reached a peak in 1949 with UNGA Resolution 303, which aimed to place Jerusalem under international trusteeship. Ben-Gurion’s declarations rejected this proposal outright, affirming that Jerusalem would remain Israel’s capital. On the same day, he urged the Knesset to relocate its government to Jerusalem, a call the Knesset acted on immediately. The city remained divided, with the Old City under Jordanian illegal control until Israel’s victory in the 1967 Six-Day War. Since then, Israel has remained committed to Jerusalem as its undivided capital, even as the international community has continued to deny this right.
The origins of the idea of corpus separatum—the internationalization of Jerusalem—can be traced to the Vatican’s long-held position on the city. The Vatican, with its historic concerns for the protection of Christian holy sites, had sought international oversight over Jerusalem even before the British Mandate. This position was also backed by other European powers like Italy and France, which had long-standing interests in the region through the French and Italian Protectorates of the Holy See. The Vatican’s involvement in advocating for Jerusalem’s internationalization stemmed from its desire to maintain control over Holy sites, but in doing so, it sought to diminish the Jewish connection to the city and overshadow the Jewish people’s historical and spiritual rights.
Even today, the United Nations remains complicit in efforts not just to erase Jewish history, but to push a political agenda that threatens the very existence of the Jewish people. The UN has gone beyond denying Jewish ties to Jerusalem, actively pursuing a strategy of ethnic cleansing. By consistently passing resolutions falsely claiming that Jewish communities in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria are "illegal under international law," the UN has taken steps eerily reminiscent of Nazi-era tactics aimed at delegitimizing and isolating Jews while legitimizing “Judenrein” (Jewish-free) lands.
The international community’s hypocrisy in its treatment of Jerusalem is staggering. While no other capital in the world has faced such sustained attempts to undermine its sovereignty, Jerusalem continues to be subjected to international debate and denial. UNESCO, for example, has passed resolutions denying Jewish historical ties to the city’s holiest sites, particularly the Western Wall and Temple Mount. These resolutions not only erase the Jewish connection to the city but also fuel the false narrative that Jerusalem is not the capital of the Jewish state.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ), a body originally established to uphold justice, 104 years ago today, has become a tool of legal warfare, issuing an advisory opinion that falsely declared Israeli control over East Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria as “illegal under international law.” These actions deny the Jewish people’s right to live in their ancestral homeland and seek to erase their historical and cultural presence from the land, echoing policies that have targeted Jews for centuries. This ongoing political assault serves to delegitimize Israel’s existence and its sovereignty over Jerusalem, a clear attempt to rewrite history and remove Jews from their rightful place in the city and the broader region.
The Complicity of the International Community and the Media
The Palestinian Authority, with the support of many in the international community, continues to claim that Israel is "Judaizing" Jerusalem, accusing Israel of changing the city's demographic makeup and claiming it has no Jewish history. This narrative is a deliberate attempt to delegitimize Jewish control and erode Israel’s historical claim. In reality, Jews have been a majority in Jerusalem for over a century, and before 1948, Jews were the largest ethnic group in the city, even under Ottoman and British rule.
Furthermore, some countries and international and media organizations have gone so far as to refuse to recognize Jerusalem as part of Israel, despite the fact that the city has been the Jewish people’s spiritual and political heart for thousands of years. This includes media outlets like CBS News, which recently instructed its journalists not to refer to Jerusalem as part of Israel, others like Norwegian Public broadcaster NRK, which claimed that Israel has no capital at all. These stances are not just politically motivated—they are a denial of history.
Restrictions on Jewish Religious Rights
Despite Israel’s sovereignty over Jerusalem, Jews face restrictions on their religious rights. The most notable example is on the Temple Mount, where Jews are prohibited from praying at their holiest site. This restriction is a modern-day continuation of the centuries-long struggle for Jewish rights in Jerusalem. The Temple Mount, where the First and Second Temples stood, is the holiest site in Judaism, yet Jews are not allowed to express their faith freely there, while Muslim worship continues unrestricted. The international community, by failing to support Israel’s right to manage its own capital and protect the rights of all its citizens, is complicit in this injustice and attempts of cultural erasure.
