Rice: ‘W. Bank, e. J’lem settlements equal’

By Ted Belman

Israel proposes dividing Jerusalem based on Jewish neighborhoods and Arab neighborhoods. This is so even though its against Israel basic law to even discuss the division. Abbas wants the division to be based on the ’67 line.

Now according to JPOST, Rice has sided with Abbas.

In comments that threaten Israel’s hold on east Jerusalem, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told The Jerusalem Post on Monday that the US does not consider it legitimate for Israel to build homes in some neighborhoods of the capital which are located beyond the Green Line.

In a conversation held in the ornate antechamber of her office, she went further than US officials have previously gone toward clarifying her government’s position on the matter.

Her remarks set the stage for a confrontation over the issue when Rice and US President George W. Bush visit Israel this week and try to move the peace process forward.

Israel, which annexed east Jerusalem after the 1967 war, does not equate the capital’s Jewish neighborhoods over the Green Line with the settlements located in the West Bank. As such, it does not believe that construction there is bound by its obligation under the road map peace plan, which calls for a freeze of all settlement activity.

Luckily, both Shas and Israel Beitenu are on record to that they will leave the government if such discussions take place.