ISRAEL'S DEP. FOREIGN MINISTER DANNY AYALON DEFENDS THE E. JERUSALEM BUILD
Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon defended the approval of 1,600 new housing units for a Jewish East Jerusalem neighborhood Thursday, Haaretz reports. He went on to say the status of Jerusalem has never been negotiable (Israel considers the entirety of Jerusalem Israel's capital) and that Israel would make no further concessions for the peace process:
"There is no doubt that the Palestinians will try to use this to either stop the upcoming indirect peace talks, or to extort more concessions from us, and I have explained to U.S. government officials that there will be no more concessions."
Ayalon insists the United State's condemnation of the housing expansion was the timing rather than the content. Ayalon has just finished a visit to the US this week where he says he was "severely criticized" by the State Department for housing announcement debacle. Said Ayalon:
"[In regard to housing,] I explained that Jerusalem has always been out of the question... The criticism was mainly about the timing of the announcement, and I told them that it was poor timing, but it was not planned and it was a serious mistake which is currently being probed in Israel."
Despite criticism, Ayalon still says the Washington trip was "essentially good."
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11 Mar 2010 3:35 PM
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