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(JPost) The addition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital to the Democratic platform does not make up for the party's original intentions, Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin said on Thursday
"I have no doubt that [US President Barack] Obama put Jerusalem back in his party's platform out of political and electoral considerations and because of the sharp criticism from Israel and the US," Rivlin stated.
Democrats amended the party platform Wednesday afternoon to include language supporting Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
The last-minute change came in the wake of mounting criticism from Democratic members of Congress incensed that the 2008 platform's declaration backing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel had been removed from the 2012 text. Sources close to the platform drafting process said Obama personally intervened on reinstating the Jerusalem language. The whole 2012 platform was originally adopted during the Democratic convention Tuesday night.
The Knesset Speaker said that the DNC did not remove Jerusalem from the platform "by mistake or because of forgetfulness," and the change was not a coincidence that can be explained away by not paying attention.
"This is a problematic sign, indicating the gradual reduction of the American government's strategic commitment to Israel," he explained.
On Wednesday, prior to the reinstatement of Jerusalem as Israel's capital in the DNC platform, Rivlin had stated that Obama does not understand the realities of the Middle East.
“The fact that the Democrats removed a united Jerusalem as Israel’s capital from their platform is more worrying than the argument over Iran,” Rivlin told The Jerusalem Post.
