Going behind Congress's back is becoming a habit for Bill Clinton. First, he misused a recess appointment (generally reserved for emergencies) to make gay-rights activist James Hormel the ambassador to Luxem-bourg. Now he has misapplied a waiver provision in the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy's Relocation Act to prevent the U.S. embassy's scheduled move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The 1995 act, with overwhelming support from Congress, called for the embassy to relocate by May 31, 1999. Despite a 1992 campaign promise to move the embassy to Jerusalem, the undisputed capital of Israel since 1967, Clinton has now used the waiver provision to delay the move for six months.
But the waiver was only intended to be used in an emergency, if it was deemed "necessary to protect the national security interests of the United States." According to Clinton, we could not risk moving the embassy now for two reasons: It would endanger both the prospect for a comprehensive Middle East peace and the lives of American embassy personnel. Not uncharacteristically, he is wrong on both counts. Arguably, he is harming the chance for peace by yet again raising unrealistic Palestinian hopes over the status of Jerusalem. But West Jerusalem -- where the embassy would be located -- has been in Israeli hands since the end of the War of Independence in 1948. Furthermore, while Jerusalem may not be the safest place in the world, it is a veritable paradise when compared with Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, or even Beijing.
As a presidential candidate, Clinton was adamant in his recognition of Jerusalem as "Israel's eternal capital." More mush from the eternal dissembler.