Romania could be the first European country to shift their embassy to Jerusalem after a contentious decision by the US. Israel has reportedly offered preferential treatment to the first 10 countries to make the move.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/O. Balilty
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Romania has begun efforts to move its Israeli embassy to Jerusalem, ruling Social Democrat Party (PSD) leader Liviu Dragnea announced on Thursday.
If the move goes ahead it will make Romania the first European country to shift their embassy to the disputed city, following a controversial decision by the US to do so.
Liviu Dragnea told Antena 3 television that the government had agreed on "the start of procedures with a view to the transfer of the embassy to Jerusalem."
"The decision has been taken ... the procedures are beginning," he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday six countries were in serious discussions to move and that he would offer preferential treatment to the first 10 countries to move.
Dragnea said the move would have "enormous symbolic value" and that Israel "has a strong international influence."
"I think the decision will produce major benefits for Romania," he added. "This is also a pragmatic approach. Like all of us, Israel has the right to establish its capital where it wants."
Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely told Israeli media she welcomed the announcement and her meetings in Romania had convinced her the move would happen.
Romanian President Iohannis said on Friday he had not been informed or consulted about the decision and urged all government and political actors to show "responsibility and discernment regarding major foreign policy decisions that have strategic effects including on national security."
Jerusalem is one of the oldest and most contested cities in the world. Jerusalem is revered as a sacred city by Jews, Muslims and Christians alike. For this reason, there has been controversy over the city to this day.
Image: picture-alliance/Zumapress/S. Qaq
Jerusalem, the city of David
According to the Old Testament, David, king of the two partial kingdoms of Judah and Israel, won Jerusalem from the Jebusites around 1000 BC. He moved his seat of government to Jerusalem, making it the capital and religious center of his kingdom. The Bible says David's son Solomon built the first temple for Yahweh, the God of Israel. Jerusalem became the center of Judaism.
Image: Imago/Leemage
Under Persian rule
The Neo-Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II (3rd from the left) conquered Jerusalem in 597 and again in 586 BC, as the Bible says. He took King Jehoiakim (5th from the right) and the Jewish upper class into captivity, sent them to Babylon and destroyed the temple. After Persian king Cyrus the Great seized Babylon, he allowed the exiled Jews to return home to Jerusalem and to rebuild their temple.
The Roman Empire ruled Jerusalem from the year 63 AD. Resistance movements rapidly formed among the population, so that in 66 AD, the First Jewish–Roman War broke out. The war ended 4 years later, with a Roman victory and another destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. The Romans and Byzantines ruled Palestine for approximately 600 years.
Image: Historical Picture Archive/COR
Conquest by the Arabs
Over the course of the Islamic conquest of Greater Syria, Muslim armies also reached Palestine. By order of the Caliph Umar (in the picture), Jerusalem was besieged and captured in the year 637 AD. In the following era of Muslim rule, various, mutually hostile and religiously divided rulers presided over the city. Jerusalem was often besieged and changed hands several times.
Image: Selva/Leemage
The Crusades
From 1070 AD onward, the Muslim Seljuk rulers increasingly threatened the Christian world. Pope Urban II called for the First Crusade, which took Jerusalem in 1099 AD. Over a period of 200 years a total of nine crusades set out to conquer the city as it changed hands between Muslim and Christian rule. In 1244 AD the crusaders finally lost control of the city and it once again became Muslim.
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The Ottomans and the British
After the conquest of Egypt and Arabia by the Ottomans, Jerusalem became the seat of an Ottoman administrative district in 1535 AD. In its first decades of Ottoman rule, the city saw a clear revival. With a British victory over Ottoman troops in 1917 AD, Palestine fell under British rule. Jerusalem went to the British without a fight.
Image: Gemeinfrei
The divided city
After World War II, the British gave up their Palestinian Mandate. The UN voted for a division of the country in order to create a home for the survivors of the Holocaust. Some Arab states then went to war against Israel and conquered part of Jerusalem. Until 1967, the city was divided into an Israeli west and a Jordanian east.
Image: Gemeinfrei
East Jerusalem goes back to Israel
In 1967, Israel waged the Six-Day War against Egypt, Jordan and Syria. Israel took control of the Sinai, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem. Israeli paratroopers gained access to the Old City and stood at the Wailing Wall for the first time since 1949. East Jerusalem is not officially annexed, but rather integrated into the administration.
Israel has not denied Muslims access to its holy places. The Temple Mount is under an autonomous Muslim administration; Muslims can enter, visit the Dome of the Rock and the adjacent Al-Aqsa mosque and pray there.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/A. Gharabli
Unresolved status
Jerusalem remains to this day an obstacle to peace between Israel and Palestine. In 1980, Israel declared the whole city its "eternal and indivisible capital." After Jordan gave up its claim to the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1988, the state of Palestine was proclaimed. Palestine also declares, in theory, Jerusalem as its capital.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Jensen
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Why it matters: Every additional nation that moves their embassy to Jerusalem helps Israel legitimatize its control of the disputed city. Any future Palestinian state would want Jerusalem to be its capital as part of a two-state solution. The US decision to move its embassy and break with decades of policy was met with international condemnation. Furthermore, the decision from Romania, a European Union member, breaks with the bloc’s position that the city’s status is still subject to peace talks.
The US decision: Trump announced in December that he would relocate the US diplomatic mission and recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, something which had previously been earmarked for peace-talk negotiation. US Vice President Mike Pence announced in February the shift would happen in May to coincide with Israel’s 70th anniversary, enraging Palestinians.
Status of Jerusalem: The city’s status has been a key issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel captured the city in the 1967 Middle East War and later annexed it. It claims the entire city as its capital. Palestinians claim Arab East Jerusalem as the future capital of an independent state. Most of the international community and the UN don't recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel or its annexation of east Jerusalem.
Romanian situation: Centrist President Klaus Iohannis must OK the decision, but has previously said the city’s status is subject to negotiations. Romania has faced a rift with the EU over legislation it says will make it hard to prosecute high-level corruption. Dragnea keeps a tight grip on his party and is seen as effectively in charge of the cabinet.
Czech Republic next? Next week, Israel's Hotovely is due to visit the Czech Republic, which was one of the 35 countries to abstain from a UN vote condemning the US move. Israeli media has speculated the EU member could be the next country to move its embassy.
