The State of Israel unambiguously designates Jerusalem its one and only capital. But some, especially in the mainstream media, pretend that Tel Aviv serves as its capital.
Tel Aviv does host the headquarters of the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of the Negev, Galilee and National Resilience but no one confuses those ministries with the capital. In addition, the great majority of foreign embassies are located in Tel Aviv.
Comments: (1) This absurdity parallels a tendency lately to pretend there's a country called Palestine.(2) For an amusing skit on this topic, see Honest Reporting's YouTube mock-umentary, "Searching for Israel's Capital.
The weblog entry documents some of those delusions in reverse chronological order:
Brown University: In the 2015 version of Brown's "The Middle East in Transition: Questions for U.S. Policy," a curriculum on history and current issues for K-12 schools in all 50 states, included a map that listed Tel Aviv—not Jerusalem—as Israel's capital.
In 2017, an updated edition included a quiz asking students to "fill in the missing countries and capitals below." They received credit for writing "Israel" next to the listed "Country Capital" of Tel Aviv.
Comment: So far as I know, this is a first for a university in general and Middle East studies in particular. (March 12, 2025)
CBS News has broken new barriers by not just denying that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel but even that it is IN Israel. Here is Mark Memmott, senior director of standards and practices at CBS News, in an e-mail to all CBS News employees, thousands in all, writing about Jerusalem: "Do not refer to it as being in Israel." He continued:
Yes, the U.S. embassy is there and the Trump administration recognized it as being Israel's capital. But its status is disputed. The status of Jerusalem goes to the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel regards Jerusalem as its "eternal and undivided" capital, while the Palestinians claim East Jerusalem—occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war—as the capital of a future state.
(October 9, 2024)
L'Eredità: In a more absurd version of the Argentine game show fracas, Flavio Insinna, an Italian court, the Tribunale di Roma, two days ago ordered the host of an Italian television program, L'Eredità, to state on his next show: "International law does not recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel." The Palestine Chronicle explains:
The story goes back to May 21, when a TV game show contestant was asked what is the capital of Israel. The answer "Tel Aviv" was deemed wrong. The right answer, the contestant was told, is "Jerusalem." ...
Italian lawyers Fausto Gianelli and Dario Rossi, representing "Associazione Palestinesi in Italia" and "Associazione benefica di solidarietà con il popolo Palestinese" respectively, decided to take the case to court. After deliberation, judge Cecilia Pratesi conveyed the much-anticipated ruling: "The Italian State does not recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital."
And then followed the court order to make the statement. Comment: I wonder why the judge did not add that Tel Aviv is the capital of Israel. (August 7, 2020)
"La Tribuna de Guido,"an Argentine trivia game show, breaks the pattern. It asked contestants, "Tel Aviv is the capital of which country?" Reports Israel Hayom: "After one contestant said she didn't know, the other said that while Israel is probably what he should say, that is not the correct answer because Jerusalem is the real capital. Eventually, after a commercial break, a judge in the show said the question had to be struck down. 'Tel Aviv is an important city in Israel and the foreign embassies are stationed there, but the government agencies are based in Jerusalem and that is therefore the legitimate capital city'." (March 12, 2018)
James Mattis: In his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, asked if he supported moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, retired Marine Corps general James Mattis replied: "Right now I stick with the current US policy. ... The capital of Israel that I go to, sir, is Tel Aviv, sir, because that's where all their government people are."
Comments: (1) Mattis is in error; it is not U.S. policy that Tel Aviv is the capital of Israel. (2) The part about "government people" refers to the fact that the ministry of defense is headquartered in the Kirya ("campus") in Tel Aviv. (January 13, 2017)
The Czech education ministry, under Palestinian pressure, has ordered that textbooks will henceforth refer to Tel Aviv as Israel's capital. (August 31, 2016)
SkySports refers to a soccer game moved from Israel's capital, Tel Aviv. (November 7, 2014)
The Washington Post writes that Israeli "airstrikes raised tensions directly between Tel Aviv and Damascus." (March 19, 2014) Update: The Post corrected the above to "Jerusalem."
Agence France Press: An article on Jan. 23, "Israel PM urges European 'fairness' in Mideast," states that four European Union states lodged "a formal protest against Tel Aviv's drive to expand settlements on the West Bank." (January 26, 2014)
Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (known as SciencesPo): a pro-Israel student cultural organization at this prestigious school goes by the name "Paris Tel-Aviv." (October 30, 2013)
The New York Times: A front-page headline today over a story by Mark Landler and Jodi Rudoren uses "Tel Aviv" as a synonym for Israel's capital: "Mideast Chaos Grows as U.S. Focuses on Israel—Kerry's Tel Aviv Push Raises Questions About Priorities." (July 2, 2013)
The Washington Post: A Mar. 21 report referred to "Washington, Tel Aviv and other capitals." A Mar. 30 correction pointed out the error.
CTV, a Canadian television station: Reported on Jan. 8 that "Tel Aviv is dealing with a heavy rain situation. The storms flooded roads and brought chaos to the Israeli capital." (January 17, 2013)
British Broadcasting Corporation: A BBC tweet today announced that "#Gaza militants launch missiles at Tel Aviv in 1st rocket attack on Israeli capital since 1991 Gulf War bbc.in/QJkWK9" (November 15, 2012)
The BBC then quietly took two steps. It deleted the tweet and it corrected the article to read "Palestinian militants have targeted Israel's commercial capital Tel Aviv."
British Broadcasting Corporation: In its Olympic facts page, the BBC did not list Jerusalem as Israel's capital but did list "East Jerusalem" as the capital of "Palestine." Under criticism from Israeli leaders, it listed Jerusalem as "seat of government ... though most foreign embassies are in Tel Aviv" - as though embassies determine a capital city. (July 30, 2012)
 The revised BBC Olympic facts page for Israel. |
White House: The White House press secretary, Jay Carney, did not say that Tel Aviv was the capital. But he also did not say it was not in this semi-comical exchange with two reporters at the daily briefing:
Connie Lawn: What city does this Administration consider to be the capital of Israel, Jerusalem or Tel Aviv?
White House press secretary Jay Carney fields a tough question about the capital of Israel.
Jay Carney: I haven't had that question in a while. Our position has not changed, Connie
Lawn: What is the position? What is the capital?
Carney: You know our position.
Lawn: I don't.
Les Kinsolving: No, no. She doesn't know, that's why she asked.
Carney: She does know.
Lawn: I don't.
Kinsolving: She does not know. She just said that she does not know. I [also] don't know.
Carney: We have long, Les ... I call on Christi. Go ahead . . .
[Question and answer on gun violence]
Kinsolving: Tel Aviv or Jerusalem?
Carney: You know the answer.
Kinsolving: No, I don't know the answer. We don't know the answer. Could you just give us an answer? What do you recognize, what does the administration recognize?
Carney: Our position has not changed, Lester.
Kinsolving: What position?
Carney ignored him and moved on to another question. The White House later issued an amendment to the briefing transcript:
The status of Jerusalem is an issue that should be resolved in final status negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. We continue to work with the parties to resolve this issue and others in a way that is just and fair, and respects the rights and aspirations of both Israelis and Palestinians.
(July 26, 2012)
The Guardian newspaper: Its style sheet states that "Jerusalem is not the capital of Israel; Tel Aviv is." (April 25, 2012)
