Prime Minister Ehud Olmert during a Sunday evening meeting with visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that the construction in Jewish neighborhoods of Jerusalem would continue, adding these areas are expected to remain under Israeli control in the future.
Rice is hoping to save the derailed talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, but PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) has opted to make the construction a key issue as the PA works to strengthen its claim on Yerushalayim, which it plans as the capital of a future Palestinian state.
Olmert told Rice during the two-hour meeting that nothing has changed, explaining in essence, these areas have been Jewish and are part of Yerushalayim and they will remain under Israeli control in the future as well.
Since her arrival on Saturday night, Rice has released statements slamming the construction in “settlements,” not making any differentiation between the ‘disputed’ Jewish neighborhood of the capital and settlements in Yehuda and Shomron.
Rice is looking for something tangible, a document that will be the basis of the continuation of talks when the government changes but it is most unlikely that such a document will be forthcoming from Olmert.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
One Response
To All,
These type of statements are a double-edged sword. They relate (=revert) to the very core of Zionism and whether or not Israel has the the right (assumed right) to claim that Jerusalem (currently) “belongs” to “US”.
Without putting my head “between the mountains”., comments by would-be representatives of The Jewish Nation.
Let us all pray for the advent of Moshiach speedily in our days.