Jerusalem Double Cross
Jerusalem Double Cross

Says the clueless publisher to the writer in a famous New Yorker cartoon, “So what was it, the best of times or the worst of times, Mr. Dickens?”

Not so funny today. It’s been a rough week. Make that a rough month, even a rough year. Would you believe a rough century?

But lately, if you’re Jewish, it’s been especially hard. It’s been one damned thing after another, and now, as if it couldn’t get any worse, they tried to wipe Jerusalem off the Jewish map. The Supreme Court, to refresh, ruled that Jerusalem is not the capital of Israel, or any part of the Jewish State.

Jerusalem was always the prize. Read this, especially pages 280 to 281 to see how the double cross gets done.

The voting ran 6 to 3, and the three Jewish Justices sided with the majority. Proof once again that the phrase “Court Jew” is no compliment.

The nightmare (for me) began with a phone call from Israel: “Did you hear what the Supreme Court did?”

Can’t trust the three Jewish judges, but two Italians tried to come to Jerusalem’s rescue – but failed.
“Don’t tell me.”

But he told me and my first response went like this: “Figures. You guys have got to do something about your High Court. They’re a bunch of…”

“No! Your High Court. The Supreme Court of the United States, for crying out loud.”

This also figures. They usually cave for Obama, as they did for his national healthcare program.

For Jerusalem, the three who dissented were Chief Justice Roberts, Justices Alito and Scalia.

Can’t trust the three Jewish judges, but two Italians tried to come to Jerusalem’s rescue – but failed.

So they’re still dancing in Ramallah, whooping it up at The New York Times and wherever anti-Semites can be found.

It was a good day to be Mahmoud Abbas or Mahmoud anybody.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest told the press that Mr. Obama was happy with the Court’s decision.

Jerusalem, first established by King David as Israel’s capital 3,000 years ago, is ripe for the taking as long as you’re not Jewish, like David.

Hamas is welcome to it, as is Fatah, Islamic Jihad, and Islamic State – though nobody says it quite that way.

But some of us are not stupid. We do not need everything spelled out.

So the Supreme Court of the Unites States declared Jerusalem an orphan, no father, no mother, and, to their thinking, what else is beside the point?

That history begins with the Hebrew Bible, the Torah, and that both Christianity and Islam were birthed from Jewish Scriptures, which places Jerusalem as the undivided, eternal capital of Israel. They may try to delete history but it can’t be done. Their liturgy repeatedly bequeaths Jewish preeminence over Jerusalem.

Their books are taken from our Book and even our prophets they can’t deny. The paperwork’s been done.

Nor can they deny the prophecies that place Jerusalem in Jewish hands. To begrudge Israel’s full rights to Jerusalem is to forget that today’s shekel is the same currency Bathsheba used to buy Solomon a new pair of shoes when she went shopping for her young son in the City her husband built.

Which brings us to an uncomfortable moment. Yes, Obama was pleased with the Supreme Court’s decision. What about the Prime Minister of Israel? Surely Benjamin Netanyahu was not pleased. In speech after speech he avows Jerusalem as Israel’s eternal capital. Nice words.

Meanwhile, however, since 2013 the Netanyahu government has imposed a construction freeze upon eastern Jerusalem.

No Jewish homes may be built in the vicinity where Solomon built the Temple and where David wrote the Book of Psalms…in Hebrew.

So, we have no choice but to assume that Israel’s leadership itself doubts its jurisdiction over its own capital.

How then can anyone expect the United States Supreme Court to think and act differently?

Until Israel’s leaders proclaim decisively and universally that it’s Jerusalem or bust, the losing streak will continue.

To keep Jerusalem safe, it’s time for Israel to forget the kindness of strangers. Israel’s acting foreign minister Tzipi Hotovely has it right.

It’s time to speak up resolutely for Biblical Jerusalem and erase any weakness or doubt.

Jack Engelhard writes a regular column for Arutz Sheva. The new thriller from the New York-based novelist, The Bathsheba Deadline, a heroic editor’s singlehanded war on terror and against media bias. Engelhard wrote the int’l bestseller Indecent Proposal that was translated into more than 22 languages and turned into a Paramount motion picture starring Robert Redford and Demi Moore. Website: www.jackengelhard.com