JERUSALEM – Jerusalem's mayor has unveiled an ambitious development plan that would demolish dozens of Palestinian homes to make way for a bustling tourist center in a contested area of the city.
But Mayor Nir Barkat said that at the request of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he would discuss his plan with Palestinian residents before moving forward.
Barkat said Tuesday his plan would benefit all residents of the Silwan neighborhood, and that most of those who lose their homes would be eligible for alternative housing. But Palestinians believe Barkat's plan is a way for Israel to cement its control over east Jerusalem — the section of the holy city Palestinians claim as their capital.
Several dozen Jewish settlers also live in Silwan.
Israel also said on Tuesday that it won't pull out of a key part of the West Bank even if there's a peace agreement with the Palestinians, the prime minister told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday.
Benjamin Netanyahu was referring to the Jordan River Valley, along the eastern border of the West Bank. Israel considers control of the border vital to block the flow of weapons from Jordan to the Palestinians.
Netanyahu told the parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that keeping the Jordan Valley was an "essential condition to ensure security and ensure that a peace deal holds," according to a meeting participant who spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was closed.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, rejected Netanyahu's comments. "He knows that this is a nonstarter for any peace agreement," Erekat said. Palestinians claim all of the West Bank — which Israel captured from Jordan during the 1967 Mideast war — as part of their future state.
Talks broke down more than a year ago, just before Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers waged a bloody three-week-long war.
Netanyahu's pronouncement came as the U.S. is pushing hard to restart the talks. Vice President Joe Biden is due to arrive in the region next week, and U.S. envoy George Mitchell has been shuttling between the sides in recent months to try to resume negotiations.
Israel also drew U.S. criticism over a plan to build 900 hundreds of new apartments in Pisgat Zeev, a Jewish neighborhood in east Jerusalem. The plan was approved a year ago, but the recent decision to revise its scope — to trim it from 1,100 units to 900 according to the ministry — was perceived by Washington as an unhelpful act to promote the project.
"We expressed our strong concerns that this kind of activity, particularly as we try to relaunch meaningful negotiations is counterproductive and undermines trust between the parties," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters on Monday.
Palestinians have said they would agree to resume talks only if Israel freezes all construction in its settlements, including east Jerusalem. Israel responded with a partial halt to new construction but did not include east Jerusalem. Both sides claim that part of the city.
Netanyahu told Tuesday's committee session that he supports an immediate resumption of talks, but said he would not recognize Palestinian "preconditions."
"There is a tendency to expect from us to accept the maximal Palestinian demands as a condition to enter talks. This is not reasonable," Netanyahu said, according to the participant.
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