Israelis Have A Love-Hate Relationship With Jerusalem

Jerusalem is central to Jewish tradition and is also revered in Christian and Muslim traditions. The U.S. moved its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, framing the city as the capital of the Jewish people, while Palestinians rejected the move and demanded their own capital in parts of the city Israel captured in 1967. Many countries avoid locating embassies in Jerusalem to avoid taking sides. Israelis respond in different ways, with some celebrating sovereignty recognition and others accepting Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Jerusalem has changed significantly in recent decades, including violence tied to the Palestinian uprising and increased influence of the religious Jewish community. Jewish tradition describes two Jerusalems: a heavenly and an earthly one, making the city both spiritual and physical, attracting and repelling.

"A short walk from the new U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem is a stone apartment building on a leafy street that might as well be a metaphor for Israelis' love-hate relationship with the city and its religious character. On the ground floor, a religious Jewish Israeli man has moved in with his family. One floor up, a secular Jewish Israeli woman has moved out."

"When President Trump moved the American Embassy from Tel Aviv, he said Jerusalem was "the capital of the Jewish people established in ancient times." The city is central in Jewish tradition. It is also revered by Christian and Muslim traditions. Palestinians rejected the embassy move, demanding their own capital in parts of the city Israel captured in 1967."

"Most countries do not base their embassies to Israel in the city, so as not to take sides in the dispute. Some Israelis celebrated the U.S. Embassy move as recognition of Israel's right to sovereignty in the Jews' spiritual homeland. Some shrugged their shoulders, accepting what most Israelis believe to be a long-established fact that Jerusalem is Israel's capital."

"There's a concept in Jewish tradition about the existence of two Jerusalems: Yerushalayim shel maala — the heavenly Jerusalem — and Yerushalayim shel mata — the earthly Jerusalem. It's a city of opposites, with both spiritual and physical dimensions. Like a magnet with two poles, Jerusalem both attracts and repels."

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