"Throughout our history, we have always prayed for and sought peace. There is no people who wants peace more than we do, none have sacrificed for it more than we have. But no nation has ever been asked to sacrifice its most important treasures in order to appease another people! And we too, no matter how dedicated to peace we may be, we will not give up our most precious and important national treasures of Jewish history! For us, there is one and only one city! It will accept and tolerate all its residents, from all nationalities and religions - but it is one city, not divided, not in pieces - just one entire and whole city, the capital of the Jewish People!

"Dear friends, I feel that in your name and on your behalf, I must say something to a man who in the past eight years has been very involved in everything that is happening here, whose friendship for Israel have learned to recognize. I allow myself to turn from here, the heart of Jerusalem, to U.S. President Clinton in friendship and with modesty, and say: You were a great friend of Israel for eight years. It would be such a shame if all that will remain of these friendship-filled years would be the fact that you, Bill Clinton, will be the first President in U.S. history who has proposed the division of Jerusalem! I ask you, even now, Mr. President: Don't be the first American President to raise his hand to divide Jerusalem! Jerusalem will not be divided! Don't be the one who enters history as the one who proposed it. We are a nation with a memory of thousands of years, we don't forget anything, and we don't forgive those who don't respect our deep feelings for our capital city... We never ever forget those who dare to raise their hand against our most precious assets. Please, Mr. President, think about it again."

"In this greatest of all rallies that have ever convened in this city, let us hold hands together, with a feeling of internal unity, love, dedication, and great determination, that we will act responsibly, with restraint, but

without hesitation, so that Israel will continue to control this city as it must be forever - one city, united and whole! Jerusalem, I pledge!" (01/08/01)

MAYOR OLMERT: Peace in the way that we understand it is not possible; we don't have to wait anything. Maybe an agreement is possible, but these are two different things. It's called peace, but it's not going to be peace, that's for sure. Because, if it has reached already this stage, this is not going to be peace. Arafat is not prepared to make peace. He is not ready to compromise.

TRUTH IS NOT TRUTH

I know one thing, maybe the government of Israel will agree to do certain things; the people of Israel will not agree. They will vote against it. They will not allow any government in Israel to pullout from the most precious places for Jewish people, for Jewish history in Jerusalem.

CHRIS MITCHELL: Once Israel starts negotiating about Jerusalem can it be taken off the bargaining table?

MAYOR OLMERT: It's not easy. The precedent made in Camp David will be very difficult to overcome. Since there hasn't been a formal agreement, and if there will be a new government, I believe that one could argue that these were not valid commitments, and at any event they were not consistent with the policy of a new government without an agreement. A new government is not bound by these commitments.

CHRIS MITCHELL: The Palestinians have said that they may declare a state in the next few months. How would that change security needs for Israel?

MAYOR OLMERT: Well, if there will be a unilateral statement then there will be unilateral actions by the Israeli government. There will be an annexation of territories and there will be a movement of military forces in order to guarantee the security of the Israelis living both in Judea and Samaria and in the state of Israel. And, we know how to take unilateral steps. We don't need any approval or any support from the Palestinians. If they will violate the agreement, if they will take unilateral steps, we will take them.

JERUSALEM: DIFFERENT VISIONS

CHRIS MITCHELL: As mayor of the city of Jerusalem, how does your vision for Jerusalem differ from Arafat's?

MAYOR OLMERT: Look, for Arafat, Jerusalem is a negative element. It's a negative driving force. What he wants, he wants to deny us of certain things. That's what drives him. That's what inspires him. Jerusalem has never been important for the Moslems and the Palestinians as such. It has never been a capital for any Moslem or Arab nation, ever, even though they controlled the city of Jerusalem for 12 centuries. So, it has always been a negative force. It's what he can deny us that drives him; what he can take from us, which inspires him; what he can change against us, which is very important for him in this context. Therefore, the view I hold of Jerusalem is fundamentally different from that of Arafat in the sense that for me it's a positive force, it's a positive place.

It's the realization of all the dreams that we have had for 2,000 years. Every single day we have been praying and crying and dreaming and dying for the city of Jerusalem for the return back to the heart of Jewish existence to the place where we have started our lives as a nation. And, it can't be a divided city. You don't make peace by dividing cities. You don't break cities when you want to make peace you unite cities. You destroy walls you don't build walls. So, for me this is Jerusalem. It is a realization of a dream. It is the focus of everything that we have been aspiring for all our lives. I love the city of Jerusalem. For me, it is a source of great inspiration.

IMMINENT DANGER

CHRIS MITCHELL: How would you characterize the danger to the city right now?

MAYOR OLMERT: There is an imminent danger because the Palestinians are not prepared to compromise and the Israeli government, unfortunately, is making all the necessary and unnecessary mistakes in order to perhaps facilitate the division of the city. We'll fight against it. We'll mobilize all the public opinion in order to stop it. But, there is a danger of a division due to the government's policy and the commitments made by government representatives, by the Prime Minister's representative, perhaps by himself.

MAYOR OLMERT: Speak out. Speak out. Express your voices. Tell the truth. Tell the truth that you know that we have been protecting the holy sites for Christians as the holy sites for all others in the city of Jerusalem. And, repeat that we have never betrayed our fundamental commitment to make sure that every person Christian, Moslem, and Jew will be able to practice their religion without any political intervention, without any restrictions in the city of Jerusalem. You guys have to speak out because there is a strong and deep bond between the Jewish people and the Christian people. We are the inheritors of great civilization that believes in democracy, that believes in equality, that believes in tolerance, that believes in peaceful co-existence. This is what we have been doing in Jerusalem. This is what the Christian people have been praying for all their lives. And, there is a common ground between us and the Christians on many things including, of course, the status of the city of Jerusalem.

THE TEMPLE MOUNT

CHRIS MITCHELL: Arafat has made strong statements about control of the Temple Mount. What's your reaction to the Palestinian claim over that part of Jerusalem that's central to Judaism?

MAYOR OLMERT: This is ridiculous. This is outrageous. I absolutely subscribe to the need to provide all the Moslems access to the holy sites. They have holy sites and we recognize it and we respect it. We respect it because we respect our tradition. Those who respect their tradition, they have the emotional capacity to respect others for their tradition. And, we respect the Moslems very much.

They are our brothers, our neighbors, our friends. And, we need to make sure that they will have their religious rights protected entirely in the city of Jerusalem. But, political sovereignty? For whom? Why? When there has been ever been political sovereignty for Palestinians that they have to restore it? It never existed. It doesn't exist today and it shouldn't exist tomorrow. I will do everything in our power to make sure it doesn't exist

BARAK'S COLLAPSE?

CHRIS MITCHELL: The Barak government seems to be teetering on the verge of collapse. Do you think there should be a unity government at this time?

MAYOR OLMERT: No, I think they should be replaced. This is the real game of democracy. The Prime Minister failed at everything. He failed at making peace. He failed at keep his coalition. He failed at making any socio-economic breakthrough. It's been one big failure. Why do we need a national unity government? To disagree? We don't need a government. We already disagree now. Let's go for elections, and I'm sure the government will be replaced.

JERUSALEM AT THE CROSSROADS

CHRIS MITCHELL: As mayor of Jerusalem, how do you feel at this time when Jerusalem is really at a crossroads?

MAYOR OLMERT: Well, I feel it has been like this for many, many years. But, I also feel that I've been waiting for this all my life. This is why I'm here. I'm here because there is a danger for the city of Jerusalem and it's my duty to protect it and we'll fight with all our power, with all our hearts, to make sure that the city remains a united city. Only a united city can inspire humanity, can inspire the world, can inspire the international community that people of different backgrounds, of different beliefs, of different affiliations can live together in mutual respect and tolerance. That's what we have practiced all these years and we will continue and we will not allow anyone to interfere with this.

CHRIS MITCHELL: What about security concerns in the next few weeks, in the next few months?

MAYOR OLMERT: I guarantee you we will do everything in our power to provide good security. And, thank God I think we are much more secure than most other big cities in the world. The only problem is that whenever something happens here blows the whole world. Everyone talks about it, everyone knows about it. The same thing will happen in New York, no one will report about it. But in spite of occasional events, there is enormous security for everyone here. And the hundreds of thousands of people who are coming here on a regular basis now, and tour around the city, and walk through all the different streets and alleys, and everyone in the city of Jerusalem, they can report to you that they feel safe, comfortable and happy in Jerusalem.

CITY OF GOD, CITY OF HISTORY

CHRIS MITCHELL: You said that you feel like this is why you were born. In some sense you are a steward over the city of Jerusalem right now?

MAYOR OLMERT: This is what I'm here for. I'm here for to represent the wish of God, and the destiny of the Jewish people in the city of Jerusalem. That's why I am here. That's what I was elected for. This is not a regular political job. I am the mayor of the city of Jerusalem. This is the city of God. This is the city of history. This is the city of religion. This is the city where the most important and dramatic events in the history of mankind took place. Jesus was buried here. And, all the great Jewish prophets were living in the city of Jerusalem. Mohammed was buried here. I think this is an enormous legacy. And, I feel that I have to help realize the original vision of God, that Jerusalem will remain forever the undivided capital of the Jewish people and the city of all believers, and of all religions and I believe that Jerusalem is indeed such a city and will remain such a city beyond all the political controversies.

CHRIS MITCHELL: Do you feel it is quite a privilege to be the mayor of Jerusalem?

MAYOR OLMERT: Absolutely; couldn't be a greater job in the world.

By using phrases such as "administrative autonomy," Olmert told Ha'aretz, "we merely provide the Palestinians with sharper tools to divide the city, and we have to be careful not to do this."

Olmert explained that when he declared in the 1999 elections that Barak "will not divide the city," he believed that Jerusalem constitutes a special matter about which Barak would proceed with "deep understanding and feeling."

For generations, Olmert stressed, Jews have "prayed and yearned for Jerusalem. We sacrificed ourselves for the city - we are talking about Jerusalem, and not some political bargaining card, not some mere piece of territory" subject to negotiations and concessions.

Jerusalem, Olmert said, is emphatically not an item on the daily agenda about which a public servant "has moral authority to sell or divide in the name of the Jewish people."

"We are talking about something deep, fundamental, basic, and deep-rooted, which is connected to the question of who we are, and what we struggle for," Olmert added. "I want to believe that all this has penetrated deeply in Barak's heart.

Olmert warns that giving areas to the PA may divide Jerusalem

(IsraelWire-2000) Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert stated on Monday morning that giving Abu Dis and predominately Arab areas of the capital to the PLO Authority (PA) constituted dividing Jerusalem.

The mayor commented that Abu Dis, the chosen site for the PA capital, lies hundreds of meters from Jerusalem's Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest site and giving it to the PA would ensure continued seditious activities on the Mount and the general area.

In an Israel Radio interview on Monday afternoon, Minister of Jerusalem Affairs Haim Ramon stated that he believed Abu Dis would remain classified as area "B", under Israel security and PA administrative control.

Ramon said that at present, there was no indication that any area under Israeli sovereignty would change to PA control. "Our position at the negotiations with the PA is simple. Jerusalem will remain under Israeli sovereignty and undivided."

Ramon added that currently, Abu Dis was under PA control with the exception of security and he did not see any problem with the PA establishing its executive body in that location.

Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert objects to the transfer of Abu Dis and Beit Hanina to Palestinian control. Olmert said this morning that whoever gives over these neighborhoods - immediately north and east of Jerusalem, respectively - would be dividing Jerusalem. "There is no way to detach Beit Hanina from Jerusalem without detaching Pisgat Ze'ev and N'vei Yaakov from the city," he said. Regarding Abu Dis, Olmert said, "It is only several hundred meters away from the Temple Mount, and whoever allows the Palestinians to establish there a control center [i.e., capital] is inviting incessant subversiveness."

"I stand at the forefront of this issue because of the responsibility I have as Jerusalem mayor," said Olmert. He added that he would confer with Yesha and other organizations about the steps that need to be taken to ensure a united Jerusalem and that they would adhere strictly to the law.

"In the meantime, I have no reason to change what I said on the eve of the elections about [Prime Minister Ehud] Barak. I do not believe that he will divide Jerusalem. This does not mean, however, that I am not fearful of the steps that others in government ministries are taking," said Olmert.

The mayor argued that the transfer of civilian authority over Jerusalem's Arab neighborhoods to the Palestinian Authority is actually a division of the city. He also said he is "disturbed by the government's helplessness in the face of the PA's future operations in the city."

Meanwhile, the Yesha Council and other right-wing organizations have decided to base their campaign against the evacuation of settlements in the Golan Heights and the West Bank on the possibility that the move may cause an irreversible division in Israeli society. The decision comes in the wake of a Gallup survey which found that a majority believed that preventing a "rift in the nation" is more important than signing peace agreements with the Arabs. 47 percent felt this way, while 34 percent held the opposite view. Thirteen percent considered that a united nation and peace are equally important.

Yesha's campaign under the slogan, "Uprooting settlements divides the people," is already underway with billboards erected across the country. The organization recently distributed a circular to right-wing MKs which claims that: "A withdrawal to the 1967 borders, or to a position meters from those borders, will cause Arafat to demand that Israel pull back to the 1967 borders in both Judea and Samaria and Jerusalem. ©copyright 2000 Ha'aretz.

(IsraelWire-01/19/2000) Speaking to leaders of the Council of Jewish Settlements in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert defended the Barak administration, stating that Prime Minister Ehud Barak is not planning to hand over Abu Dis or other areas in the Jerusalem periphery to the PLO Authority (PA). Abu Dis has already been mentioned as a possible capital for a Palestinian state, an Israeli alternative aimed at placating the PA and hoping to thwart demands for eastern Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state. The mayor, a member of the Likud opposition party and possible Likud candidate for prime minister in the future, turned down a request by Yesha Council Executive Director Benny Kashriel to head the lobby to preserve a united Jerusalem. Olmert told Kashriel and the forum that he was convinced the prime minister's statements vis-à-vis Jerusalem were genuine and believed the current administration has no intentions of dividing Jerusalem.