(Haaretz).Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel's sovereignty over Jerusalem was not a matter up for discussion. The prime minister's comments came after the U.S. State Department told Israeli envoy Michael Oren that Israel must halt a construction project in East Jerusalem.Netanyahu told ministers at the weekly cabinet meeting that Jerusalem is the united capital of Israel and that all citizens are allowed to purchase property in any part of the city they choose:"Jerusalem is the unified capital of Israel and the capital of the Jewish people, and sovereignty over it is indisputable".
"Imagine what would happen if someone were to suggest Jews could not living or purchase [property] in certain neighborhoods in London, New York, Paris or Rome," he said,"The international community would certainly raise protest. Likewise, we cannot accept such a ruling on East Jerusalem," Netanyahu told ministers.
This is the policy of an open city, he said, and Israel would not accept a stance that counters that civil right,"Hundreds of apartments in the west of the city were purchased by Arabs and we didn't get involved. There is no prohibition against Arab residents buying apartments in the west of the city and there is no prohibition barring the city's Jewish residents from buying or building in the east of the city," Netanyahu added, "That is the policy of an open city that is not divided".
Netanyahu said that he had made this stance clear to U.S. President Barack Obama, declaring that the issue of construction in Jerusalem could not be linked to the discussion on settlements.
