Ryan: Exclusion of Jerusalem language from Dem. platform is 'tragic'

Paul Ryan blasted Democrats on Wednesday after it was revealed that the party's platform omitted references to God and Jerusalem as the capital city of Israel that had existed in prior years' versions.

"This is tragic, Brian," the Republican vice presidential nominee told host Brian Kilmeade of "Fox and Friends." "First of all, Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. Mitt Romney and I are very clear on this and right of return and the other issues you mentioned. But what is so tragic about this is it's one of the few issues where the Republican Party and the Democratic Party agree on."

Jerusalem's status is a major point of contention in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations; while Israel names it as its capital city, Palestinians have said it would function as the head of an eventual independent state. The sides have agreed to resolve the conflict in peace negotiations, and the Obama administration — as have administrations on both sides of the aisle before it — has said that the issue should be resolved in talks.

But Ryan said the omission of a declaration that Jerusalem is and would continue to be the capital city "undermines our nation's support for our ally Israel."

"They should not have driven a wedge into what has been our bipartisan support for Israel," Ryan continued, noting the party platforms now split on the issue.

Democrats have looked to downplay the difference, saying nothing has changed between platforms.

“As the White House said several months ago, the status of Jerusalem is an issue that should be resolved in final status negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians — which we also said in the 2008 platform,” Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Melanie Roussell said in a statement. “We will continue to work with the parties to resolve this issue as part of a two-state solution that secures the future of Israel as a Jewish state and the homeland of the Jewish people.”

Roussell went on to accuse the Romney campaign of a "cynical" attack intended to "to turn our support for Israel — which has always been bipartisan — into a partisan wedge issue by playing politics."

Ryan also knocked Democrats for removing explicit references to "God" from the party platform.

"I think its rather peculiar," Ryan said. "It's not in keeping with our founding documents, our founding vision. But I'd guess you'd have to ask the Obama administration why they purged all this language from their platform. There sure is a lot of mention of government, so I guess I would put the onus on them to answer why they did all these purges of God."

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