Serbia has recently announced that it will move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Kosovo, which has just agreed to set up diplomatic relations with the Jewish state for the first time, has also hinted that it will also put its embassy in Jerusalem.
In addition, Honduras has said that it now recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's capital. An increasing number of world leaders recognizing Israel's rightful claim to Jerusalem as its eternal capital is obviously a great development for the Jewish state, but there is still a long way to go.
The overwhelming majority of countries that recognize Israel still have their embassies in Tel Aviv, not wanting to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital until the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is resolved. If you keep up with the news, however, you know that a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians is a long way off, since the latter party refuses to halt acts of terrorism against the Jewish state and its people, let alone return to the negotiating table. Hence, it seems that it will be a long time before most countries recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. That is, unless Israel can figure out a way to persuade more world leaders to change their minds and stop waiting for a peace agreement to finally recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital.
The key to getting more states to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital lies in satisfying the Palestinian demand that it also be the capital of a future Palestinian state, or at least appearing to try and satisfy that demand. We know that the Palestinians want what was once known as east Jerusalem as their capital. We also know that Israel insists, rightfully, that Jerusalem will be its united capital, now and forever. But perhaps there is a way to satisfy both demands.
The solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over Jerusalem may involve copying the arrangement that Italy has with Vatican City, or the similar arrangement that the United States has with the United Nations, headquartered in New York City. Rome is the capital of Italy, but it is also the seat of the Holy See, otherwise known as the Vatican. Vatican City is an independent state that is surrounded by territory under Italian sovereignty. Similarly, the United Nations sits in the middle of New York City, but is regarded as international soil that is not under the jurisdiction of the US.
It would probably be feasible to designate part of an Arab neighborhood in Jerusalem, in which the Palestinians could build put their parliament and other government buildings, as Palestinian soil under any peace agreement. This area would be separate from the rest of the city and Israel, just as the Vatican is separate from Italy and the UN is separate from the U.S. In other words, Jerusalem would remain united, but would have a Palestinian government compound within the city that would be considered sovereign Palestinian territory. Hence, the Palestinians would have their capital in Jerusalem, and Israel would maintain the rest of the city as its united capital.
But how would the arrangements explained above encourage more countries to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's eternal, united capital? The answer is that, if Israel proposes these arrangements and the Palestinian leadership rejects them, Israel will have demonstrated that it is willing to accede to Palestinian demands for a capital in Jerusalem, despite the Palestinians' intransigence. The Palestinians' refusal to agree to these proposals will send a message to world leaders that since Israel is agreeing to a Palestinian capital in Jerusalem, and Palestinian leaders continue to say no, there is no reason not to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, as it would be the Palestinians who would be halting the creation of their own capital in the holy city.
Acceding to the aforementioned arrangements in Jerusalem may also persuade more Arab states to establish full diplomatic relations with Israel, as Israelis will be showing that while they are willing to make concessions for the sake of peace, the Palestinians are not. Therefore, the leaders of the Arab world could further legitimize normalizing relations with the Jewish state by arguing, correctly, that it is the Palestinians who are stopping peace from happening, not Israel. In fact, Israel's willingness to agree to a Palestinian capital in Jerusalem may even persuade Arab states to put their embassies in Jerusalem, and recognize the city as Israel's capital, as all the nation-states of the world should. On the other hand, in the unlikely event that the Palestinians agree to the aforementioned arrangements for Jerusalem, Israel would still reap the benefit of having more countries recognize the holy city as its capital, because if there is no longer any dispute over Jerusalem's status, there is no reason not to recognize it as the Jewish state's capital.
Jason Shvili is a freelance writer in Toronto, Canada.
