ENROLLED
2017 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 213
BY REPRESENTATIVE HODGES
A RESOLUTION
To commend the state of Israel, commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the reunification
of the city of Jerusalem, and designate June 7, 2017, as Jerusalem Day at the
Louisiana House of Representatives.
WHEREAS, the land of Israel is the birthplace of the Jewish people, where their
spiritual, religious, and national identity has been formed, where they have achieved
independence, and where they have created a culture of national and universal significance;
and
WHEREAS, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob promised in Genesis 12:3 to bless
those who bless Israel through the promise He made to Abraham: "And I will bless them that
bless thee, and curse them that curseth thee; and in thee shall all the families of the earth be
blessed"; and
WHEREAS, on May 14, 1948, the provisional government of Israel proclaimed the
rebirth of the state of Israel and on that same date, the United States of America, in the
person of President Harry S. Truman, recognized the provisional Jewish government as the
de facto authority of the Jewish state of Israel, thereby fulfilling the Biblical prophesy in
Isaiah 66:8 that the nation would be (re)born in a single day; and
WHEREAS, Israel established a form of government based on the precepts of liberty,
justice, and peace taught by the Hebrew prophets upholding the full social and political
equality of all her citizens without distinction of race, creed, or sex and guaranteeing full
freedom of conscience, worship, education, and culture; and
WHEREAS, Israel became the foremost leader in the Middle East in recognizing the
basic equality and dignity of women, thereby providing full and equal opportunities for
women to vote, hold elected office, own property, and pursue and engage in any occupation,
profession, or trade; and
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WHEREAS, for more than three thousand years, since King David of Israel moved
the capital of Israel to Jerusalem, the Jewish people have had a lasting presence in that
ancient city; and
WHEREAS, some of the fiercest battles of Israel's 1948 War of Independence were
fought over the city of Jerusalem; for Jews, the victory for independence was tarnished
because the city of Jerusalem remained divided for nineteen years until the Six-Day War in
1967; and
WHEREAS, on June 7, 1967, the third day of the Six-Day War, soldiers of Israel's
Defense Forces entered the old city of Jerusalem, which over the centuries has come to
symbolize the love of the Jewish people for their ancient homeland, and reunited the city,
making it once again an integral part of the Jewish state; and
WHEREAS, the Christian religion owes its beginnings to the Jewish religion because
the founder of Christianity is the prominent Jewish Rabbi Jesus Christ, who declared,
"Salvation is of the Jews" (John 4:22); and
WHEREAS, the Jewish people have also given to Christianity all of the following:
the Sacred Hebrew Bible, the prophets, the mother (Mary) and foster father (Joseph) of
Jesus, the twelve disciples of the Gospels, and most of the apostles of the first century
church; and
WHEREAS, as elected representatives of the people of Louisiana, the members of
the House of Representatives of the Legislature of Louisiana wish to join with the people of
Israel in sharing their fervent hope and profound desire for an enduring peace for the state
of Israel and its eternal, indivisible, and sacred capital, Jerusalem.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
Legislature of Louisiana does hereby commend the state of Israel; does hereby
commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the reunification of the city of Jerusalem; and does
hereby designate June 7, 2017, as Jerusalem Day at the Louisiana House of Representatives.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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