After David Ben-Gurion declared the country's independence in 1948, it took then-U.S. President Harry Truman "11 minutes" to recognize the State of Israel, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz said Monday, hours before the new U.S. Embassy was inaugurated in Jerusalem. "I believe President Trump's decision to move the embassy to Jerusalem will be remembered as a similar moment in history," he said.
It sounds a little bombastic perhaps, but we tend to forget that America's recognition of the state of Israel was historically deficient: The lack of recognition of Jerusalem as its capital dually implied a lack of recognition of the country itself. This rendered Israel and the United States, two allies, hostage to the Palestinians and the Muslim world.
The press conference held by the four senior Republican senators – Cruz, Lindsey Graham, Mike Lee and Dean Heller – provided two shows for the price of one. As expected, they wholeheartedly hailed the "historic moment" of moving the U.S. Embassy to its new home in Jerusalem, and with the same vigor they lambasted the nuclear deal with Iran, which Trump withdrew from last week.
Cruz, however, was supported by his colleagues when he argued that moving the embassy to Jerusalem "lifts a heavy burden from the Jordanians and Egypt." Why would this be the case? Because, said Cruz, "a president willing to withstand all the consequent pressures and such scathing international criticism on the matter of Jerusalem, is also a president who can fulfill his commitments to stand by these Arab countries against Iran. We stand alongside friends, and to the same degree we stand against enemies."
The senators intimated their view of Israel as a "great country" in the sense that it radiates greatness, not a "small country that runs away from its troubles," as implied through the some of the questions posed by Israeli journalists. These journalists expressed concern that people were liable to get killed over the embassy transfer. "A great country which takes courageous steps needs to expect resistance and conflicts," said Heller.
The truth is, it's wonderful to see American public officials who mean what they say and say what they mean, speaking with moral clarity and logic, standing by our side. Cruz and Graham addressed the fact that no Democratic senator or member of Congress attended the embassy ceremony. "Almost every Democrat voted in favor of transferring the embassy in 1995," Graham noted. "There were two who abstained."
Among those Democrats of the party's illustrious past, only former Senator Joe Lieberman was in the crowd at the press conference at the King David hotel on Monday. However, even as Democrats and Meretz Chairwoman Tamar Zandberg kept their distance, very important Arab countries moved closer. This is certainly one of the reasons a historic opportunity has emerged for a daring diplomatic initiative. And of course, a certain prime minister who knows a thing or two about true strategic patience.
