Admission: Jerusalem 'could become Palestinian capital'

JERUSALEM – Some neighborhoods in Jerusalem could become the capital of a future Palestinian state as part of an agreement with the Palestinian Authority, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in an interview today with Al Jazeeera.

"We can find a formula under which certain neighborhoods, heavily-populated Arab neighborhoods, could become, in a peace agreement, part of the Palestinian capital that, of course, will include also the neighboring villages around Jerusalem," Barak said when asked whether he envisioned the future division of Jerusalem.

Barak is a senior member of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's coalition government, which has been conducting nearly daily negotiations with the PA aimed at creating a Palestinian state, at least on paper, before President Bush leaves office in January.

Olmert repeatedly has denied Jerusalem is being discussed, but Israeli and Palestinian sources intimately familiar with the current talks tell WND Jerusalem is being negotiated, with Palestinian officials claiming the talks are in advance stages.

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Last week, the prime minister told WND Jerusalem eventually will be on the negotiating table, explaining a "mechanism" has been created to deal with the "issue" of Jerusalem.

"Of all the final status core issues, the issue of Jerusalem is probably the most difficult, and unlike some of the other issues, we have yet to start negotiating the future of Jerusalem. Therefore, in order to not let the process fall victim to its weakest link, we have the establishment of an agreed-upon mechanism that would continue to deal with Jerusalem. That mechanism was created in such a way that it would address the concern of both sides," said Olmert's spokesman, Mark Regev, in response to a query.

Regev would not detail which "mechanism" purportedly had been created to discuss Jerusalem or when such discussions may take place.

Regev commented amid Israeli news media reports last week stating Olmert presented PA President Mahmoud Abbas with a plan for international parties to contribute proposals on how both sides should negotiate the status of Jerusalem. Olmert and Abbas met for a round of advanced talks last week.

According to Palestinian sources directly involved in the negotiations, the reference to "international proposals" is specific to a U.S. plan – first reported last month by WND – that has been floated amongst the parties to deal with dividing Jerusalem in five years.

According to informed Israeli and Palestinian sources, officials from the State Department this year presented both negotiating sides with several proposals for consideration regarding the future status of Jerusalem. It was unclear whether the U.S. proposals were accepted.

One U.S. plan for Jerusalem obtained by WND was divided into timed phases, and among other things called for Israel eventually to consider forfeiting parts of the Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest site.

According to the first stage of the U.S. proposal, Israel initially would give the PA some municipal and security sovereignty over key Arab neighborhoods in eastern Jerusalem. The PA would be allowed to open some official institutions in Jerusalem, could elect a mayor for the Palestinian side of the city and would deploy some kind of so-called basic security force to maintain law and order. The specifics of the force were not detailed in the plan.

The initial stage also calls for the PA to operate Jerusalem municipal institutions, such as offices to oversee trash collection and maintenance of roads.

After five years, if both sides keep specific commitments called for in a larger principal agreement, according to the U.S. plan, the PA would be given full sovereignty over agreed-upon eastern Jerusalem neighborhoods and discussions would be held regarding an arrangement for the Temple Mount. The plan doesn't specify which parts of the Temple Mount could be forfeited to the Palestinians or whether an international force may be involved.

The PA also could deploy official security forces in Jerusalem separate from a non-defined basic force after the five-year period and also could open major governmental institutions, such as a president's office, and offices for the finance and foreign ministries.

The U.S. plan leaves Israel and the PA to negotiate which Jerusalem neighborhoods would become Palestinian.

According to top diplomatic sources, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who visited the region two weeks ago, pressed Israel to sign a document by the end of the year that would include Jerusalem by offering the Palestinians a state in Israel's capital city as well as in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The Israeli team rather would conclude an agreement on paper by the end of the year that would give the Palestinians a state in the West Bank, Gaza and some Israeli territory, leaving conclusions on Jerusalem for a later date, the informed diplomatic sources told WND.

The sources said the Palestinian team has been pushing to conclude a deal by January on all core issues, including Jerusalem, and has been petitioning the U.S. to pressure Israel into signing an agreement on paper that offers the Palestinians eastern Jerusalem.

Rice, the sources said, has asked Israeli leaders to bend to what the U.S. refers to as a "compromise position," concluding an Israeli-Palestinian agreement by the end of the year that guarantees sections of Jerusalem to the Palestinians. But Israel would not be required to withdraw from Jerusalem for a period of one to five years.

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To interview Aaron Klein, contact M. Sliwa Public Relations by e-mail, or call 973-272-2861 or 212-202-4453.

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