U.S. Policy on Jerusalem

Feintuch's book is a well-researched and competent monograph, laboriously going through the many and often inconsequential debates on the subject in the U.N. Following the course of U.S. policy over the years, he finds it ill defined and bumbling. It is hard to disagree with that conclusion. Foreign Affairs

Drawing on unpublished primary sources and personal interviews with former high-ranking U.S. officials such as Dean Rusk, Arthur Goldberg, and Evan Wilson, the author has developed a comprehensive picture of U.S. policy on Jerusalem, a subject which up until now has only been treated as a facet of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The years examined span 1919, when the United States first formulated a position on Jerusalem, to the mid-1980s. The emphasis is on the period from 1947, when the United States supported the U.N. resolution calling for the full internationalization of Jerusalem, to 1967, when a new U.S. policy was established recognizing Israel's de facto control of Jerusalem.