Yerusalem Barat

Yerusalem Barat adalah bagian Yerusalem yang tetap berada di bawah kendali Israel setelah Perang Arab-Israel 1948, yang garis gencatan senjatanya membatasi perbatasan dengan seluruh kota, yang kemudian di bawah kendali Yordania. Sejumlah negara barat seperti Inggris mengakui secara de facto otoritas Israel, tetapi menahan pengakuan de jure. Klaim kedaulatan Israel atas Yerusalem Barat lebih diterima secara luas daripada klaimnya atas Yerusalem Timur.

perang 1948

Sebelum perang Palestina 1948, wilayah Yerusalem Barat memiliki salah satu komunitas Arab terkaya, berjumlah sekitar 28.000 orang, di wilayah tersebut.  Pada akhir permusuhan, hanya sekitar 750 non-Yahudi yang tersisa di sektor Arab di daerah itu, dan mereka, sebagian besar, adalah orang-orang Yunani yang diizinkan tinggal di rumah mereka di koloni Yunani. Setelah perang, Yerusalem dibagi menjadi dua bagian: bagian barat, dari mana diperkirakan sekitar 30.000 orang Arab telah melarikan diri atau diusir, berada di bawah kekuasaan Israel, sementara Yerusalem Timur berada di bawah kekuasaan Yordania dan dihuni terutama oleh Muslim dan Kristen Palestina.  Komunitas Yahudi sekitar 1.500 diusir dari Kota Tua.
Setelah penjarahan yang meluas, lembaga-lembaga Israel berhasil mengumpulkan sekitar 30.000 buku, kebanyakan dalam bahasa Arab, berurusan dengan hukum Islam, tafsir Al-Qur'an dan terjemahan sastra Eropa, bersama dengan ribuan karya dari kepemilikan gereja dan sekolah.  Banyak yang diambil dari rumah penulis dan cendekiawan Palestina di Qatamon, Bak'a dan Musrara.

Division in 1949

The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine made of Jerusalem and its area an international city.
Arabs living in such western Jerusalem neighbourhoods as Katamon or Malha were forced to leave; the same fate befell Jews in the eastern areas, including the Old City of Jerusalem and Silwan. Almost 33% of the land in West Jerusalem in the pre-mandate period had been owned by Arabs. The Knesset (Israeli Parliament) passed laws to transfer this Arab land to Israeli Jewish organizations.
The only eastern area of the city that remained in Israeli hands throughout the 19 years of Jordanian rule was Mount Scopus, where the Hebrew University of Jerusalem is located, which formed an enclave during that period and therefore is not considered part of East Jerusalem.

Capital of Israel

Israel established West Jerusalem as its capital in 1950. The Israeli government needed to invest heavily to create employment, building new government offices, a new university, the Great Synagogue and the Knesset building. West Jerusalem became covered by the Law and Administrative Ordinance of 1948, subjecting West Jerusalem to Israeli jurisdiction. United States President Donald Trump's administration announced recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital on December 6, 2017. On December 15, 2018, Australia officially recognized West Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Reunification

During the Six-Day War in June 1967, Israel captured the eastern side of the city and the whole West Bank. Over the following years, their control remains tenuous, the international community refusing to recognise their authority and the Israelis themselves not feeling secure.
In 1980, the Israeli government annexed East Jerusalem and reunified the city but the international community disputed this. The population of Jerusalem has largely remained segregated along the city's historical east/west division. The larger city contains two populations that are "almost completely economically and politically segregated... each interacting with its separate central business district", supporting analysis that the city has retained a duocentric, as opposed to the traditional monocentric, structure.