U.S. Policy On Jerusalem

Settlement of the problem of Jerusalem has eluded all parties to it. Indeed, because it would probably be the last and most difficult item on the agenda of any negotiations for settlement, would-be mediators such as the United States-especially since the corpus separatum voted by the United Nations in 1947 became a dead letter-have preferred not to try to work out any solutions. Meanwhile the fate of Jerusalem has been determined by the fortunes of war and, since 1967, by Israeli decisions, with U.S. policy reacting by adjustment or by protest. 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.