Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Netanyahu: Israel will never divide Jerusalem

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Tuesday that Israel would never cede control of united Jerusalem nor retreat to the 1967 borders, according to a bureau statement.

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Abu Al-Gheit told a group of European and Arab foreign ministers last week that Prime Minister Netanyahu is willing to discuss enabling parts of Jerusalem to serve as the capital of a future PA state. Al-Gheit said that Netanyahu said as much to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak during his visit to Cairo two weeks ago.

Netanyahu’s office issued an official denial on Tuesday morning: “The Prime Minister stands firm, and has made this clear in all his diplomatic contacts with world leaders, that in any future peace arrangement, Jerusalem will remain united under Israeli sovereignty, and that the security borders of Israel will not include a return to the pre-1967 lines.”