Benny Gantz: Jerusalem Has Room for Capital of Palestine

Jerusalem, MINA – Jerusalem has room for the future capital of Palestine. It was said by the replacement Prime Minister and Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz.

Gantz made the statement while also providing assurance that Jerusalem would remain an undivided capital.

“Jerusalem must remain united but it will have a place for the Palestinian capital,” Gantz told the Saudi-owned Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper in an interview.

“It’s a very large city, filled with holy places for all of us,” he added.

“We want Palestine to have a suitable geographic expansion that will allow them to live a comfortable life without obstacles,” he said as quoted by Al Araby on Friday.

Gantz, who has served as Israel’s replacement prime minister and defense minister since May, did not specify how Jerusalem could become the capital of Israel and Palestine without being divided.

Previous resolutions, including the Trump administration’s peace plan announced earlier this year, have proposed a Palestinian capital on the outskirts of Jerusalem rather than in an actual city.

The proposal has been rejected by Palestinians, who are seeking to continue control of east Jerusalem, which Israel occupied and annexed illegally by Israel after 1967.

“Israel will not retreat to the border before 1967,” said Gantz to Asharq Al-Awsat.

“Israel needs the Jordan Valley for its defense needs,” said Gantz, referring to the strategic and fertile valley that makes up about 30 percent of the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli government has repeatedly expressed its intention to occupy the Jordan Valley, a proposal supported by the Trump administration.

“Israel will not annex all the valleys,” said Gantz.

“On the contrary, the country will annex strategic points as part of negotiations with the Palestinian leadership,” explained the Israeli Defense Minister.

“Once we agree on the security issue, the political solution will be much easier,” he said.

Gantz, who heads the Blue and White party, entered government as part of a unity deal with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this year.

The replacement prime minister’s comments come as Israel draws closer to holding its fourth election in just two years.

If lawmakers fail to reach the December 23 deadline for passing the 2020 state budget, the Knesset will automatically dissolve and the country will return to the polls next year. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)