American Sen. Ted Cruz used the occasion of Jerusalem Day to call on the president “to move the American embassy to Jerusalem and formally recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s eternal and undivided capital.”
“I stand today to express my solidarity with Israel and with the Jewish people during this major celebration,” he said from the senate floor on Wednesday. “Now, more than ever, America stands strong with our unshakeable friend and ally the nation of Israel.”
Today, Israelis mark the 50-year anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem during the Six-Day-War in 1967.
U.S. President Donald Trump was in Jerusalem this week for a brief but positive visit with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. He also visited the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest site, and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, sacred to Christians as the possible death and burial site of Yeshua. But Trump made no mention of recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital or of moving his country’s embassy to Jerusalem, items that he pledged to do during the his presidential campaign.
Cruz said this is “something it should have done two decades ago.”
The republican senator from Texas also noted the historical importance of Jerusalem Day and the ancient Jewish connections to the city.
“Today is a day where we must also reassert historical truth: The historic connection of the Jewish people to Jerusalem and the land of Israel did not begin in 1967,” he said. “These profound ties to Jerusalem have existed for thousands of years. They can be traced back and have been reaffirmed through numerous archaeological excavations such as those in the City of David.”