| Israel will not freeze Jewish neighborhood construction in Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday to the American Broadcast Company ( ABC).
"On the question of Jerusalem we've had, (building homes in Jerusalem is) not my personal policy but the policy of all governments, including Yitzhak Rabin's, Golda Meir's, Shimon Peres', for the last 42 years," Netanyahu was quoted as saying.
"The Palestinian demand is that we prevent Jews from building in Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem. That is an unacceptable demand," he added.
The prime minister made this remarks in response to the question by the ABC that whether Israel would stop building in East Jerusalem as U.S. President Barack Obama demanded in their meeting earlier this month.
Netanyahu denied that Obama intended to press Israel on that issue during the meeting, saying that the two countries were trying to resolve it through diplomatic channels, which he called "the best way we can."
During his trip last month to the United States, Netanyahu met with Obama at the White House to discuss the strained relationship between the two traditional allies, which is caused by Israeli government's approval of a housing program in East Jerusalem during U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's visit.
The building scheme threaten to derail the newly-resumed Israeli-Palestinian negotiation and draw severe criticism from the Obama administration, whose peace efforts were embarrassed by Israel's move.
However, despite repeated requests from the United States and the rest of the international community that Israel completely freeze construction in East Jerusalem, Netanyahu has reiterated several times that the Jewish state is not going to stop building in the controversial part of the holy city. |
