What Israeli Rightists Will Get
In their effort to overthrow Sharon and install a left-wing government, Israeli Rightists are effectively halting construction around Ma'aleh Adumim and threatening the territorial integrity of Jerusalem:
Sharon met last week with Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin and asked him why he was saying that "Sharon will divide Jerusalem." "You know that's not true," Sharon said. Rivlin replied that Sharon's actions and decisions would ultimately divide the capital, noting among other things the delay in building the new neighborhoods and police headquarters in E-1.
In Rivlin's view, unless Ma'aleh Adumim is connected to Jerusalem through construction, it will become an isolated enclave in Palestinian territory like Mount Scopus before the Six-Day War. Sharon told Rivlin he was unaware of any foot-dragging in construction of the police headquarters, and telephoned Public Security Minister Gideon Ezra in Rivlin's presence. "Relocate the headquarters, the police officers and the horses too, and give them a pasture," Sharon told Ezra.
And how would a Labor government deal with the same situation?
Labor Party whip MK Ephraim Sneh and Interior Minister Ophir Pines-Paz raised objections to construction in E-1 in a meeting of Labor ministers yesterday. Sneh asked that the party oppose any construction in the disputed area to avoid jeopardizing a future peace agreement.
Revenge might be sweet, but surely ensuring that Jerusalem remains the undivided and eternal capital of the Jewish state is more important than punishing Sharon politically. Or maybe it isn't - which would be something that we should all probably talk about.
Sharon met last week with Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin and asked him why he was saying that "Sharon will divide Jerusalem." "You know that's not true," Sharon said. Rivlin replied that Sharon's actions and decisions would ultimately divide the capital, noting among other things the delay in building the new neighborhoods and police headquarters in E-1.
In Rivlin's view, unless Ma'aleh Adumim is connected to Jerusalem through construction, it will become an isolated enclave in Palestinian territory like Mount Scopus before the Six-Day War. Sharon told Rivlin he was unaware of any foot-dragging in construction of the police headquarters, and telephoned Public Security Minister Gideon Ezra in Rivlin's presence. "Relocate the headquarters, the police officers and the horses too, and give them a pasture," Sharon told Ezra.
And how would a Labor government deal with the same situation?
Labor Party whip MK Ephraim Sneh and Interior Minister Ophir Pines-Paz raised objections to construction in E-1 in a meeting of Labor ministers yesterday. Sneh asked that the party oppose any construction in the disputed area to avoid jeopardizing a future peace agreement.
Revenge might be sweet, but surely ensuring that Jerusalem remains the undivided and eternal capital of the Jewish state is more important than punishing Sharon politically. Or maybe it isn't - which would be something that we should all probably talk about.
