A Guide to the Dispute Over Jerusalem and Israel’s Capital

What’s the capital of Israel? Israelis say it’s Jerusalem, and indeed the prime minister’s office is there, as well as the parliament, the highest court and most government ministries. But other countries consider the city disputed territory, subject to negotiation with the Palestinians. No major power recognized Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem until U.S. President Donald Trump did so on Dec. 6. World leaders from the Vatican to Tehran denounced the U.S. position, which sparked protests in the Palestinian territories and such places as Lebanon, Turkey, Morocco and Indonesia. In January, addressing the Israeli parliament, Vice President Mike Pence said the U.S. would open an embassy in Jerusalem by the end of 2019.

It’s sacred to followers of the three major monotheistic religions. It is home to the Temple Mount, the holiest site in the world for Jews, who come from around the world to pray at the Western Wall, the last remaining supporting wall of the biblical temple. Muslims revere the same plateau as the Noble Sanctuary, where the Al-Aqsa mosque stands as the third-holiest place in Islam, after Mecca and Medina. Not far away in Jerusalem’s Old City is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which Christians revere as the site of Jesus’s tomb. When the United Nations voted in 1947 to divide British-ruled Palestine into separate Arab and Jewish states, it didn’t want either side controlling Jerusalem, due to its religious resonance. Instead, it set aside the city as an international zone to be administered by a UN council of trustees.