Democratic platform, Jerusalem capital returns

The Democratic national convention in Charlotte has approved a motion reinstating a line in support of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, which was part of the Democratic party platform in 2008. The line had been dropped from the platform, which was unveiled on Tuesday, sparking harsh criticism from Republican candidate Mitt Romney. The 70-page platform stated that US president Barack Obama and the Democratic Party "maintain an unshakable commitment to Israel's security" but scrapped the line saying that Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel. The text also stated that the sides have agreed that the issue of Jerusalem will be discussed in negotiations on the final status. According to a high Democratic official at the convention, the line on Jerusalem capital has been reinstated to reflect the president's vision. According to US media reports, Obama personally intervened so that the line, which was first inserted in 2008 and whose principle has been part of the Democratic and Republican platforms in the past, was included again in the party platform though with some changes. For example in 2004 the platform for the re-election of George W. Bush stated that the Republicans continued to support the transfer of US embassies from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the capital of Israel. The transfer was approved by Congress in 1995 but never carried out, mostly in order not to shake the fragile Israeli-Palestinian peace process and in order not to cause resentment in the Arab world and among Palestinians who claim the Arab-majority East Jerusalem as the future capital of an independent Palestinian state. Its annexation to Israel is not recognized by the international community. Relations between President Obama and Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu have been difficult from the beginning and have worsened after the president said that peace talks should resume on the basis of Israel's borders before the six-day war in 1967. The Israeli government has not commented on this issue but the dropping of the line on Jerusalem has sparked a debate on Israeli web sites as well as in the Republican party. Just a few hours after the first draft of the platform was published on Tuesday, Romney issued a statement saying: "It is unfortunate that the entire Democratic Party has embraced President Obama's shameful refusal to acknowledge that Jerusalem is Israel's capital".