Kadima MPs vow to thwart any withdrawal from Occupied Jerusalem

Monday September 24, 2007 23:49 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies saed at imemc dot org

Israeli Ynetnews reported on Monday that four members of the Israeli parliament from the Kadima Party, the ruling political body in Israel, vowed to thwart any proposals by the Israeli Prime Minister, head of the party, Ehud Olmert, to withdraw from parts of Jerusalem as part of a peace deal with the Palestinians.

The proposal was made by the Israeli vice Prime Minister, Haim Ramon, as he stated that Israel should withdraw from parts of occupied East Jerusalem as part of a comprehensive peace agreement with the Palestinian Authority.

The Ynetnews reported that Kadima members of parliament (Knesset in Hebrew), Nir Barkat, MKs Otniel Schneller, Eli Aflalo, Ze'ev Elkin and Marina Solodkin, after a meeting that took place in the Jerusalem house of MK Nir, announced the formation of a forum to support what they described as a “unified Jerusalem”.

The Ynetnews added that Barkat stated after the meeting that this forum would act in order to remove the issue of Jerusalem from any peace talks with the Palestinians.

MP Elkin said that he expects Olmert to reject such a plan since it is considered a deviation from the platform of the party, the Ynetnews added.

In a meeting for the party last week, several Kadima cabinet ministers also slammed such a proposal and stated that Jerusalem should always remain the unified capital of Israel.

The East of Jerusalem, and all of its neighboring Palestinian areas, are parts of the Palestinian territories illegally occupied by Israel in 1967.

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