United Nations Security Council Resolution 478

United Nations Security Council Resolution 478 declared Israel's 1980 "Jerusalem Law", which declared Jerusalem to be Israel's "eternal and indivisible" capital, was "null and void and must be rescinded forthwith". This resolution called upon member states to withdraw their diplomatic missions from the city.

The vote on the non-binding resolution, which took place on August 20, 1980, was passed 14-0, with the United States abstaining.

Most nations with embassies in Jerusalem complied, and relocated their embassies to Tel Aviv prior to the adoption of Resolution 478. Following the withdrawals of Costa Rica and El Salvador in August 2006, no country maintains its embassy in Jerusalem, although Paraguay and Bolivia have theirs in nearby Mevasseret Zion. [http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=110349] The United States Congress passed the Jerusalem Embassy Act in 1995, stating that "Jerusalem should be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel; and the United States Embassy in Israel should be established in Jerusalem no later than May 31 1999. As of January 26 2008, this has not occurred [ [http://www.usembassy-israel.org.il/ U.S. Embassy Israel ] ] . As a result of the Embassy Act, official U.S. documents and web sites refer to Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The embassy itself still did not move pending the agreement of the President.

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External links

* [http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/dde590c6ff232007852560df0065fddb?OpenDocument Full text of resolution 478 (pdf)]