AR20,,112023 ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION 20 November 7, 2023 - Introduced by Representatives Murphy, S. Johnson, Bodden, Brandtjen, Dittrich, Donovan, Gundrum, Michalski, O’Connor, Rettinger and Schraa. Referred to Committee on Rules.
AR20,,22Relating to: recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. AR20,,33Whereas, approximately 33,000 Wisconsin residents are of the Jewish faith; and AR20,,44Whereas, archaeological digs have uncovered Jewish heritage inside Jerusalem and across the land of Israel dating back to at least 3,000 years ago; and AR20,,55Whereas, the government of Israel retained sovereign control over the entire city of Jerusalem on June 7, 1967; and AR20,,66Whereas, from 1948 to 1967, Jerusalem was a divided city, and Israeli citizens of all faiths as well as Jewish citizens of all states were denied access to holy sites in the area controlled by Jordan; and AR20,,77Whereas, since 1967, Jerusalem has been a united city administered by Israel, and persons of all religious faiths have been guaranteed full access to holy sites within the city; and AR20,,88Whereas, Jerusalem is the residence of the Knesset, the Supreme Court of Israel, the prime minister of Israel, the National Bank, and other federal government buildings, and recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel would provide for efficacy of diplomacy; and AR20,,99Whereas, each sovereign nation under international law and custom may designate its own capital, and the United States maintains its embassy in the functioning capital of every country except in the case of our democratic friend and strategic ally, the State of Israel; and AR20,,1010Whereas, on October 24, 1995, the 104th United States Congress passed the bipartisan Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995, which was overwhelmingly adopted by the Senate (93-5) and the House of Representatives (374-37), and which recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and ordered the relocation of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem by no later than May 31, 1999; and AR20,,1111Whereas, on June 5, 2017, Senate Resolution 167, relating to the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the relocation of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, passed by a unanimous 90-0 vote; and AR20,,1212Whereas, on December 6, 2017, the president of the United States officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel; now, therefore, be it AR20,,1313Resolved by the assembly, That the Wisconsin State Assembly, in adopting this resolution, honors this auspicious occasion and formally recognizes the city of Jerusalem as the official capital of the State of Israel; and, be it further AR20,,1414Resolved, That the assembly chief clerk transmit authenticated copies of this resolution to the news media of Wisconsin, to the president of the United States, to the Speaker and the clerk of the United States House of Representatives, to the president and the secretary of the United States Senate, to the chancellor of the University of Wisconsin–Madison and each of the members of the Board of Regents, to the provosts and chairpersons of the boards of trustees of all Wisconsin public and private colleges and universities, and to the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., for transmission to the proper authorities in the State of Israel.