Russia's Surprising Stance on Recognizing Western Jerusalem as Israel's Capital

In recent days, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement related to the Middle East peace process, in which it for the first time referred to Western Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. In the statement published on Thursday, April 6, on its official website, while naming East Jerusalem as the 'capital of the future state of Palestine', it emphasized that 'we find it necessary to declare that we consider Western Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel.' This statement aligns with Moscow's support for the two-state solution, advocating for Palestinian independence alongside Israel's existence, and it also expressed 'concern' over the lack of political dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians. The Russian Foreign Ministry's statement came on the same day that the Russian President criticized the Israeli Defense Minister's assertion that the Assad regime was responsible for the recent chemical attack in Syria during a phone call with the Israeli Prime Minister. Meanwhile, the Israeli newspaper Jerusalem Post described Moscow's position as 'surprising' because it emphasized Western Jerusalem as Israel's capital, noting that 'no other country in the world has recognized any part of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.' Russia's implicit recognition of Western Jerusalem as Israel's capital coincides with the policy of Donald Trump's administration regarding Jerusalem. During his election campaign, Trump stated that the U.S. embassy should be moved to Jerusalem based on a 1995 congressional resolution. Although there has been no change on this issue since Trump took office, David Friedman, the newly appointed U.S. ambassador to Israel, recently stated that the transfer of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is still 'on the agenda.' According to the Jerusalem Post, a potential transfer of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem could imply recognition of Western Jerusalem as Israel's capital by the U.S. Israeli officials have stated that the Russian Foreign Ministry's statement means that the recognition of Western Jerusalem as Israel's capital is tied to the declaration of the Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. However, the Jerusalem Post reported that Alexander Shain, the Russian ambassador to Israel, will meet with Israeli Foreign Ministry officials in the coming days to further explain Russia's position on Jerusalem. At the same time, the Russian ambassador stated that this position does not mean that Russia will soon move its embassy to Western Jerusalem. The Israeli army captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 war, an area that had previously been under Jordanian control as the custodian of Islamic holy sites. Subsequently, in 1980, Israel officially declared Jerusalem as its 'unified' capital. Palestinians and the international community emphasize that East Jerusalem should be the capital of an independent Palestinian state. Currently, over 300,000 Palestinians live in East Jerusalem, to whom Israel has issued blue identification cards allowing free movement throughout Israel. Despite the privileges that Israel has granted to Palestinians in East Jerusalem, they are not officially considered Israeli Arabs and see themselves as part of the Palestinian people.