israel

East Jerusalem May be the Price for Peace

By Chris Mitchell
Middle East Bureau Chief

CBN.com – JERUSALEM, Israel - European Union diplomats say that Israel's policies on east Jerusalem are making it difficult to reach a peace settlement with the Palestinians.

The criticism comes in a leaked report, and it could be a sign of growing pressure on Israel to turn east Jerusalem over to the Palestinians.

The report accuses Israel of deliberate policies that reduce the possibility of reaching a final agreement on the status of Jerusalem.

One major objection in the report is what it calls "The construction and expansion of illegal settlements" in (east) Jerusalem. It refers to neighborhoods like Pisgat Ze'ev, where thousands of Israelis have lived for years. The report refers to the Israelis living there as settlers.

That is the same term used for Israelis living in the West Bank, and the former Israeli residents of Gaza, who were forced out of their homes when that land was turned over to the Palestinians.

The report also criticizes the construction of the security barrier Israel built to keep out suicide bombers from the city. It claims Israel is using its view that all of Jerusalem - both east and west - has been Israeli territory since the 1967 Six Day War to determine where the barrier goes.

Israel annexed Jerusalem after it conquered the city and took it from Jordan in the Six Day War. In 1980, Israel declared the city to be the "complete and united" capitol of Israel. But the report disagrees fundamentally with Israel’s official view of Jerusalem - that it is the eternal, indivisible capitol of Israel. The report says the EU does not recognize Israel’s annexation of east Jerusalem.

Mark Regev is the spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry. "Sadly, Europeans don't recognize a united Jerusalem. We're hopeful that it won't be long, that maybe in the framework of future peace agreements you will see all European countries having their embassies here in Jerusalem rather than Tel Aviv, and recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capitol."

Now that Israel has given Gaza back to the Palestinians, some analysts see the report as the sharpening of a push to give Palestinians official control of east Jerusalem and divide the city.

A main Palestinian goal is to have east Jerusalem as the capitol of a future Palestinian state. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reaffirmed that goal over the weekend, when he said the opening at Rafah was a small step towards their goal of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capitol.

But would Israeli politicians - now locked in a bitter political battle for the future of Israel - be willing to give up half of Jerusalem?

It has happened before. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak agreed to President Bill Clinton’s proposal to give back part of Jerusalem to Yasser Arafat in the failed Camp David Peace Talks in the year 2000.

After giving up Gaza, some opponents of current Prime Minister Ariel Sharon have said he would be willing to divide the city. The report seems to indicate at least some European diplomats would divide Jerusalem too.

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