White House signals Western Wall has to be part of Israel - News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff

by News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff 

Ahead of visit by U.S. Vice President Mike Pence to Israel next week, officials note Jerusalem's borders must be resolved through Israeli-Palestinian negotiations

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence

Photo: AP

Senior Trump administration officials outlined their view Friday that Jerusalem's Western Wall ultimately will be declared a part of Israel, in another declaration sure to inflame passions among Palestinians and others in the Middle East less than two weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Stressing that the ultimate borders of the holy city must be resolved through Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, the officials – speaking ahead of U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's trip to the region – essentially ruled out, however, any scenario that didn't maintain Israeli control over the Western Wall.

The issue is sensitive because the wall is situated beyond the pre-1967 armistice lines and abuts some of the Islamic world's most revered sites.

"We cannot envision any situation under which the Western Wall would not be part of Israel. But as the president said, the specific boundaries of sovereignty of Israel are going to be part of the final status agreement," a senior administration official said.

Another official later added by email, "We note that we cannot imagine Israel would sign a peace agreement that didn't include the Western Wall."

In a press briefing, another White House official explained that while "the last couple weeks in the region have been a reaction to the Jerusalem decision and we've seen a lot of the emotions," much of the reaction has been positive. "I think that a lot of people in the region, they really respect the president.  They really like this administration.  We're working well together."

"[Our] number one priority there is countering Iran; defeating ISIS and terror; and then combating the extremist ideology," the official went on to say. "So they know after this that the president will keep his word.  He's not going to be doing things like the last administration.  They know that he is very serious and focused on his objectives, and we will continue to pursue it."

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a senior adviser to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, reacted indignantly to the remarks coming out of the U.S. over the weekend. "We will not accept any changes on the borders of east Jerusalem, which was occupied in 1967," he told The Associated Press.

"This statement proves once again that this American administration is outside the peace process," Abu Rudeineh reiterated. "The continuation of this American policy, whether the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, or moving the American embassy, or such statements, by which the United States decides unilaterally on the issues of the final status negotiations, are a violation of international law and strengthen the Israeli occupation. For us, this is unacceptable. We totally reject it. And we totally denounce it."

Pence plans to visit the Western Wall next week. The administration officials said he would be accompanied by a rabbi to preserve the spiritual nature of his planned visit to the hallowed wall in Jerusalem's Old City. The officials said Pence's Wednesday visit would be conducted in a similar manner to when U.S. President Donald Trump visited in May.

U.S. Special Representative for International Affairs Jason Greenblatt will also head to Israel next week for what will we be his first peace mediation trip to the region since Trump's Jerusalem declaration, a senior administration official said on Friday.

Greenblatt will meet with Fernando Gentilini, the European Union's special representative to the Middle East, and stay for Pence's trip to Israel later in the week, the official said.

Jerusalem's status has been a central issue in the decadeslong Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Trump's announcement last week shook up decades of U.S. foreign policy and countered an international consensus that Jerusalem's status should be decided in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, who claim east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

Pence plans to depart for the Middle East on Tuesday after presiding over the Senate's vote on a sweeping tax overhaul. The vice president will meet Wednesday with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in Cairo and then travel to Israel. Pence's two days in Israel will include meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a speech at the Knesset and a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial.

Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital has sparked protests in the Middle East, and Abbas pulled out of a planned meeting with Pence. Abbas had originally been scheduled to host Pence, a devout Christian, in the biblical West Bank town of Bethlehem.

Noting the reaction to the Jerusalem decision and "the emotions that have been displayed," the official said Pence's trip is viewed as part of "the ending of that chapter and the beginning of what I would say [is] the next chapter."

Trump officials said Pence would reinforce Trump's announcement on Jerusalem, but the administration also understands the Palestinians may need a cooling-off period.

Israel captured the Old City, home to important Jewish, Christian and Muslim religious sites, along with the rest of east Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War. The U.S. has never recognized Israeli sovereignty over territory occupied in 1967, including east Jerusalem. For this reason, until now, U.S. officials have refused to say explicitly that the wall is part of Israel.

The Western Wall, a retaining wall from the Second Temple, is considered the holiest site where Jews can pray.

News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff

Source: https://wtop.com/national/2017/12/white-house-signals-western-wall-has-to-be-part-of-israel/

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