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Ovadia Yosef and Eli Yishai of Shas: If Jerusalem comes up, we're out (file photo)
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| By Israel Insider staff January 28, 2008 |
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Seeking to keep a key religious party in his coalition, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert suggested Monday that Jerusalem would not be discussed in depth in the early phases of peace talks with the Palestinians. A spokesman for Olmert's Kadima party quoted the prime minister as saying negotiators would tackle less sensitive subjects before discussing the fate of Jeruaslem, ynet reported. Spiritual leaders of the Shas party threatens to quit the coalition once Israel begins discussing the fate of the capital.
But Kadima spokesman Shmuel Dahan admitted that it was just a matter of time. "The negotiations with the Palestinians will deal with all issues. That doesn't mean that it will deal with all issues at once and with the same intensity," Olmert was quoted as saying after the party's weekly meeting. "The issue of Jerusalem is very sensitive and in this regard it is preferable to begin with issues that have a chance of achieving understanding rather than starting with issues where the disagreements initially are large."
Yisrael Beiteinu, a former coalition member, quit Olmert's government earlier this month over the peace talks.
Olmert's deputy, Haim Ramon, has said Israel would be ready to hand over Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem under a peace deal, but he and others have studiously avoid referring to the Palestinian's non-negotiable demand that the Old City would also be surrendered.
Shas' Council of Torah Sages met Sunday at the home of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the party's spiritual mentor, and said that Shas would quit the government once negotiations with the Palestinians over the fate of Jerusalem begin. "The moment Israel starts discussing Jerusalem with the Palestinians, Shas will immediately resign from the government," the council's secretary Rafael Pinhasi stated.
"The Council of Torah Sages believes that no peace talks should be held before terror activities are stopped completely," a statement issued by Pinhasi said.
Shas Chairman Eli Yishai, who met with Olmert last week, said he had asked the prime minister to conduct negotiations with full transparency. "The prime minister promised me that construction in Jerusalem and its surrounding would not be frozen," Yishai told the council. "I also spoke to the defense minister, who told me he would look into it. If this matter isn't resolved, I will approach the prime minister again," he added. |
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