Jerusalem is an ancient city in the hills between the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea, holy to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam alike, and a city whose political status remains among the most disputed questions in international affairs. Any accurate account of Jerusalem has to hold both things at once: its deep, shared religious significance, and the unresolved conflict over who holds sovereignty there.

Where Is Jerusalem and What Is the Old City?

At the heart of Jerusalem lies the Old City, a walled area roughly 900 meters on each side, divided into Armenian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim quarters. Within it sits the Temple Mount, also known as Al-Haram al-Sharif, a single hilltop compound holy to more than one faith at once. The site holds the Western Wall, the last remaining section of the retaining wall of the ancient Jewish Temple and Judaism’s holiest accessible prayer site, as well as the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, among the most important sites in Islam. Nearby stands the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which Christian tradition identifies as the site of Jesus’s crucifixion and burial. UNESCO lists the Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls as a World Heritage Site.^[1][3]

Religious Significance

Jerusalem’s religious importance is one of the few things about the city that is not seriously disputed. For Judaism, it was the site of the First and Second Temples and remains the central focus of Jewish prayer and tradition. For Christianity, it is the city of Jesus’s final days, death, and, in Christian belief, resurrection. For Islam, it is home to Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, built over the rock from which the Prophet Muhammad is traditionally held to have ascended to heaven, making Jerusalem the third-holiest city in Islam. These overlapping claims to the same small area, especially the Temple Mount and Al-Haram al-Sharif, are a recurring source of tension precisely because the site matters so deeply to all three faiths.^[1]

Why Jerusalem’s Status Is Disputed

Jerusalem’s political status has been contested since at least 1947, when the United Nations General Assembly, in resolution 181 (II), proposed placing the city under an international regime administered by the UN rather than assigning it to either a Jewish or an Arab state. That plan was never implemented. After the 1967 war, Israel extended its law, jurisdiction, and administration over East Jerusalem. The UN General Assembly and Security Council responded by declaring these measures invalid and calling on Israel to rescind them; Security Council resolutions in 1968 and 1979 reaffirmed that Israeli measures altering the city’s legal status had no legal effect, and the Security Council and General Assembly have repeatedly held that the Fourth Geneva Convention, which governs occupied territory, applies to East Jerusalem.^[2]

In 1980, Israel’s parliament passed a law declaring a unified Jerusalem to be the country’s capital. The UN Security Council, in resolution 478, censured this law, determined that it violated international law, and called on states that had diplomatic missions in Jerusalem to withdraw them; most did. The UN’s position, maintained through its specialized bodies to this day, is that it does not recognize Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem, East or West, pending a negotiated settlement. Israel, for its part, regards Jerusalem, including the eastern part of the city, as its sovereign and indivisible capital. The Palestine Liberation Organization’s 1988 declaration of statehood named Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state, a claim that has likewise not been resolved. In 2018, the United States recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and relocated its embassy there, a position most other countries have not adopted; the great majority of foreign embassies to Israel remain in Tel Aviv.^[2]

This dispute is not a matter of Specialty Digest taking a position. It is a live, unresolved disagreement between states and international bodies, and this article describes the competing positions and their sources rather than endorsing one over the other.

What Jerusalem Is Known For

Beyond the dispute over its status, Jerusalem is known globally as a uniquely shared holy city, and the walled Old City, with the Dome of the Rock’s golden dome rising above the Temple Mount, is the image most people picture when they think of Jerusalem. The city’s layered history as a site of pilgrimage for three major world religions, stretching back thousands of years, is what gives it its enduring global significance, independent of how its political future is eventually settled.

Key Takeaways

• Jerusalem’s Old City contains sites central to Judaism (the Western Wall), Christianity (the Church of the Holy Sepulchre), and Islam (the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque).^[1][3]
• The United Nations proposed international administration of Jerusalem in 1947 (General Assembly resolution 181); this was never implemented.^[2]
• Following the 1967 war, the UN Security Council and General Assembly declared Israeli measures altering Jerusalem’s status invalid and have not recognized Israeli sovereignty over the city.^[2]
• Israel regards Jerusalem as its sovereign, undivided capital; the Palestine Liberation Organization has claimed it as the capital of a future Palestinian state.^[2]
• The United States recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moved its embassy there in 2018; most countries have not followed.

Sources

• Encyclopaedia Britannica | “Old City of Jerusalem” | Undated | https://www.britannica.com/place/Old-City-of-Jerusalem | Accessed 2026-10-21
• United Nations, Question of Palestine (UNISPAL) | “The Status of Jerusalem” (Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People) | 1997 | https://www.un.org/unispal/document/auto-insert-203463/ | Accessed 2026-10-21
• UNESCO World Heritage Centre | “Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls” | Undated | https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/148/ | Accessed 2026-10-21

Editorially reviewed by Specialty Digest Editorial TeamLast reviewed October 21, 2026Researched and drafted with AI assistanceReport an issue