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Israel: Don't Call Jerusalem the Palestinian Capital

(Jerusalem Post) Herb Keinon - An EU draft resolution on the Middle East put forward by Sweden wholly adopts the Palestinian narrative without even a wink toward Israel's concerns, a senior Israeli diplomat says. The resolution, which for the first time refers to "Palestine," calls for a resumption of negotiations that would lead to a Palestinian state with "East Jerusalem" as its capital. "This resolution shows that what Israel does is never enough, and the onus is only on us," the Israeli diplomat said. "It shows that the Palestinians want to get an agreement without having to go through negotiations." He said the draft represented a near-full acceptance of the Palestinian narrative, and does not take into consideration Israel's concerns such as security, the demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state, or the insistence that Palestinian refugees be repatriated to a future Palestinian state and not to Israel. "They don't mention our issues, and when we bring them up, they say only that these will be dealt with during the negotiations," he said. "However, the Palestinian issues they put in the conclusions - those issues don't have to be negotiated." Israeli officials dismissed as nonsense European claims that the resolution would strengthen Mahmoud Abbas, saying all it would do was strengthen his belief that there was no need to negotiate, and that if he just waited long enough the international community would deliver Israel. What is infuriating, the official said, was that Netanyahu "went the extra mile" in declaring the settlement moratorium, and instead of getting praise, the Europeans put all the pressure on Israel.
2009-12-02 09:14:46
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