Lieberman Calls More Settlements Activities in Jerusalem

18 October 2007

by Saed Bannoura

Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs, Avigdor Lieberman, called on the government on Thursday to intensify its settlement activities in the occupied East Jerusalem, and stated that Israel mist build more settlements regardless of American objections.

The statements of Lieberman came during a tour in Arab neighborhoods in the occupied Old City along with members of his extremist Yisrael Beteinu (Israel Our Home) movement.

He stated that Jerusalem must remain the undivided capital of the Jewish state and that the government should hand Arab areas around Jerusalem to the Palestinian Authority, and added that he will never agree to any peace deal which will divide Jerusalem.

“All holy sites will remain on our hands”, Lieberman stated, “But we should not continue to finance refugee camps such as Shu’fat”.

Lieberman also stated that the upcoming peace conference in the United States will not be able to resolve the conflict, but will only present main issues for discussion.

Lieberman reiterated his statements of separating the Jews from the Arabs and called for increasing settlement construction and expansion in East Jerusalem.

It is worth mentioning that on Wednesday, the Israeli president Shimon Peres stated that “there is no Israeli who will agree to dividing Jerusalem”, and added that “Israel must find a solution to the issue of Jerusalem without dividing it”.