US: J’lem’s status open to discussion
The US State Department said Sunday that the future status of Jerusalem would be determined through peace negotiations, after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s declaration Thursday that the capital would “never again be partitioned and divided.”
“Jerusalem is a final status issue. Israel and the Palestinians have agreed to resolve its status during negotiations. We will support their efforts to reach agreements on all final status issues,” a State Department spokesman said when asked to respond to Netanyahu’s proclamation that Jerusalem would always remain under Israeli sovereignty.
During a Jerusalem Day speech on Thursday, Netanyahu insisted that all of Jerusalem will forever remain under Israeli sovereignty.
Speaking at a ceremony marking 42 years since the city was reunited in the Six-Day war, Netanyahu did not refer to Palestinian demands to declare east Jerusalem the capital of the state they want to establish.
“United Jerusalem is Israel’s cap