Talks to divide Jerusalem

[crooner]

.com » Israel » Article Feb 10, 2008 21:12 | Updated Feb 11, 2008 10:20 'Post' report on J'lem talks sparks furyBy GIL HOFFMAN, KHALED ABU TOAMEH AND TALIA DEKEL Print Subscribe E-mail Toolbar Shape public opinion: What's this? Talkbacks for this article: 64Politicians on the Right called upon Shas to leave the government immediately on Sunday after The Jerusalem Post revealed that secret talks were taking place with the Palestinians in which Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni had made concessions on Jerusalem. Nir Barkat.Photo: Ariel JerozolimskiAs reported in Sunday's Post, a senior Palestinian Authority official in Ramallah said that the Palestinian negotiating team headed by former PA prime minister Ahmed Qurei had been holding "secret talks" with Livni and other government officials over the past few weeks. "There are public meetings and there are secret ones," the PA official explained. "The main progress has been achieved during the secret talks, particularly on the issue of Jerusalem. Today we can say that Israel is prepared to withdraw from almost all the Arab neighborhoods and villages in Jerusalem. Israel is prepared to redivide Jerusalem, and this is a positive development." Livni's associates declined to comment on the story, saying that the Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams had decided not to respond to reports about what was taking place behind closed doors during the negotiations. RELATEDPA official reports progress over Jerusalem in secret talks An Israeli official familiar with the talks said that until now they had focused on procedural matters and that the more serious issues on substance still lay ahead. The PA confirmed Sunday that Jerusalem was being discussed with Israel. Nimer Hammad, political adviser to PA President Mahmoud Abbas, said the PA had sensed readiness on Israel's part to talk about the future of Jerusalem. "The negotiations [with Israel] are not easy," Qurei said Sunday. "The topics which we're negotiating about are also not simple. These are the most difficult issues, and they include Jerusalem, the refugees, the borders and the settlements." A senior PA official added that "Jerusalem was of course on the table" and that "there is almost full understanding with Israel" regarding the creation of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. Shas officials responded to the story by reiterating the party's promise that it would not sit in a government that negotiated Jerusalem's fate and that they expected to be updated by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Livni if the issue were raised. But politicians on the Right said Shas could no longer explain remaining in the coalition. "The cat is out of the bag," National Religious Party chairman Zevulun Orlev said. "The fact that the Olmert government is not telling the truth about the negotiations with the Palestinians has been revealed. Shas will no longer be able to say they didn't know. Even if the prime minister isn't telling them the truth, they can thank The Jerusalem Post for revealing it to them. I hope Shas keeps its promise and leaves the government that is dividing Jerusalem." Likud faction chairman Gideon Sa'ar said the secret negotiations were intended to give the political establishment a fait accompli that would require Israel to withdraw to indefensible borders and divide Jerusalem. "Shas should withdraw immediately from the coalition as it promised," Sa'ar said. "It's also time for the MKs in Kadima and the Pensioners Party who oppose such moves to wake up." United Torah Judaism MK Avraham Ravitz criticized the negotiations, saying that if "the story was true, then Jerusalem's fate is being decided like a thief in the night. It cannot be that while Olmert is denying that there are any talks about Jerusalem at all, Livni is negotiating in back rooms with Abu Ala [Qurei] about the state of our capital." Jerusalem municipal opposition leader Nir Barkat, who has led a public campaign against the proposed division of the capital, called on Livni to reveal any agreements reached during negotiations with the Palestinians. "I demand that the foreign minister, who heads the negotiations with the Palestinians, publicly disclose all secretive and other agreements that the State of Israel has reached with the Palestinians," Barkat said. "Any such agreement achieved on behalf of an Israeli official would constitute an absolute deviation from Kadima's basic principles and a violation of the Basic Law: Jerusalem. It would betray the trust of the voter and undermines the sovereign basis of the Knesset. The Palestinians must understand that neither the government of Israel, nor any other body on its behalf, has the right to promise to give up areas where Israeli law, governance and legislation have been implemented."