JERUSALEM (JTA) — A classified report recommends that the European Union take steps to strengthen the Palestinian Authority in Jerusalem.
The report drafted by European consuls in East Jerusalem and Ramallah criticizes Israeli policy in eastern Jerusalem and calls on the European Union to protest it, reported Ha’aretz, which obtained a copy of the secret report.
The report was completed on Nov. 23 and delivered in recent days to the European Union in Brussels, according to Ha’aretz.
It charged that the Israeli government and Jerusalem municipality are working to change the demographic balance of Jerusalem and to cut off eastern Jerusalem from the West Bank. It also accuses the municipality of discriminating against the Palestinian residents of Jerusalem in areas such as building permits and education.
The report, according to Ha’aretz, also criticizes archeological excavations near the Temple Mount of focusing exclusively on Jewish history and of being "an ideologically motivated tool of national and religious struggle."
Foreign Ministry officials told Ha’aretz that the report will help Sweden promote a draft plan to divide Jerusalem and have the European Union formally recognize East Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state.
