Interior Minister Yosef Burg declared yesterday that Jerusalem was not Berlin and its sovereignty could not be divided.
In a speech to young Jewish diaspora leaders, who had just completed a course of Jewish studies at the Hebrew University, Burg rejected Egyptian President Anwar Sodat’s proposal for divided sovereignty in Jerusalem, although leaving the city as one municipality. “My logic, my personal experience, and my studies as a historian don’t spell out how you can have two different political sovereignties in one city,” he said:
Burg said the only example of such a divided sovereignty is Berlin. “It is the clear policy of the Israel government that Jerusalem is not Berlin,” he said. “Jerusalem cannot be divided and there is no part of Jerusalem that can belong to another sovereign.”
Referring to the United Nations, where the Security Council is now considering another resolution condemning Israel for its policies in Jerusalem, Burg declared: “There are people in the United Nations who are especially united when they can decide something against us. There is no issue that unites the overwhelming majority of the UN as the Israeli issue.”
But, he added, this means Israel knows what stand it must take “for the defense of our national independence and sovereignty.” He said the only real ally of Israel is the Jewish people and called for a continuing spiritual dialogue between Israel and the diaspora.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
