image Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at an event marking the 50th anniversary of Israel's capture of East Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War, opposite the Old City wall and near the Tower of David in Jerusalem May 21, 2017. REUTERS/Abir Sultan/Pool - RTX36WP0

PM Netanyahu: “Jerusalem will always remain united”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared, during a state ceremony commemorating the unification of Jerusalem following the 1967 Middle East war, that the ancient city was, and will always remain, a united Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty, the capital of the Jewish state. Netanyahu pointed to the fact that the city of Jerusalem, which under Israeli sovereignty enjoys freedom of worship for all religions, was throughout history the capital city only of the Jewish people. “The Temple Mount and the Western Wall will forever remain under Israel’s sovereignty. What justification, what justification is there to go back to a divided city? Was Jerusalem ever the capitol of any other people other than the Jewish people? It never happened. Did anyone other than us cared for the freedom of worship of all religions? On the contrary, this freedom was and is secured to all religions only under Israel’s sovereignty,” Israeli PM Netanyahu said.

 

The Israeli leader further emphasized that Israel was genuine in its pursuit of peace with its neighbors, while rejecting an Arab claim that Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty was an obstacle to an aspired solution. Rather, Netanyahu declared that the ongoing refusal of Israel’s neighbors to recognize the Jewish state within any boundaries was the core of the Arab-Israeli conflict. “We want peace. We reach out for peace with our neighbors. But Jerusalem is not the one delaying the peace. What delays peace is the constant refusal to recognize the Jewish state in any borders and end this conflict truly and once and for all. This is what delays peace,” Netanyahu said.

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that anyone who seeks to divide Jerusalem and rejects the historic connection of the Jewish people to the ancient city, are directly responsible for prolonging the decades old conflict that would never end unless Israel maintains full sovereignty of Jerusalem.