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Editorial

A view of Jerusalem from the Haas Promenade

Ciiy'of avid tru
belongs to the
Jewish people.

erusalem is the spiritual
heartbeat of the Jewish peo-
ple and the eternal, indivisible
capital of Israel, the Jewish state. It
should remain so under any Middle East
peace agreement despite some Knesset
members standing ready to hand over
Arab parts of the city.
Never again should Israel lose over-
sight of this historic hilltop city, the
holiest of the four holy cities in Eretz
Yisrael, the biblical Land of Israel,
which encompasses Israel as well as
Judea and Samaria — together, today's
West Bank.
Jerusalem's eastern sector was
under Jordanian control from the time
of Israeli statehood in 1948 until the
city was reunited in the Six-Day War
of 1967 after Arab armies amassed at
Israel's borders.
Resolving the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict shouldn't hinge on dividing
Jerusalem or otherwise diminishing its
unity. Resolution, however, could well
include a consensus that grants the
Arab community some autonomy over,
and a deeper sense of identity within,
the Arab-populated portion of the
Israeli city. To that end, savvy negotia-
tors should be able to find common
ground ... literally.
It has never been the intention of
the Jewish people or the Israeli gov-
ernment to discredit the city's ties
to Islamic and Christian religious his-
tory. Jerusalem truly is a multicultural
melting pot. Psalms 122:3, often recit-
ed each spring on Yom Yerushalayim,
Jerusalem Day, declares: "Jerusalem,
that art builded as a city that is com-
pact together" — a city uniting all.
Reunification unexpectedly came
during an Arab-triggered war. It
shouldn't be relegated to a bargain-
ing chip. Israel's 1980 Jerusalem
Law upheld the 1967 annexation that

unified the city. Who can forget that
between 1948 and 1967, Jews were
barred from the Old City and couldn't
pray at the Western Wall. They also
couldn't enter the holy city of Hebron,
where David was consecrated as king
of the United Kingdom of Israel, or
visit Rachel's Tomb.

A Key Factor

Its historical and emotional signifi-
cance to Israel and Jewish people-
hood notwithstanding, Jerusalem
remains an issue of permanent status
that must be addressed in any accord
between Israel and the Palestinian
Authority (P.A.), which governs much
of the West Bank and is a supposed
negotiating partner looking to estab-
lish a Palestinian state that also could
include the Gaza Strip.
The P.A. insists it'll never stop seek-
ing a "right of return" to Israel for War
for Independence-era Palestinian Arabs
or their descendants, a collective num-
ber of about 5 million. Measure that
against Israel's population of 8 million
people with 6 million Jews.
The P.A. also will never admit Israel
was created to be a Jewish state.
An agreement will have to include
not only from Israel a symbolic and
very modest "return" for some 1948-
era refugees (and perhaps some form
of "reparations"), but also from the
P.A. a pronouncement that respects
Israel's Jewish character.
Similarly, there will have to be some
kind of symbolic concession that
Israel will need to make regarding a
united Jerusalem — what parts the
Palestinians would have some level of
jurisdiction over, how a P.A. govern-
ment complex there would fit in, how
holy sites would be accessed, how con-
tinued Israeli control of the entire city
would be assured, etc.

Even though Jews typically don't
venture east of the security marker,
the problem is that Jerusalem is more
a mix of Jewish and Arab neighbor-
hoods than segregated zones; imagine
trying to ethnically divide Manhattan
to create "Jew-free" areas.
The art of compromise, however,
could involve the exchange of territory
that changes the city borders and gives
greater flexibility to addressing the
competing Israeli and Arab interests.
For example, Israel could gain larger
Jewish settlements, such as Ma'ale
Adumim, and the Palestinian state
could absorb some of the denser Arab
neighborhoods, such as Umm Tuba.
Then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak
tried a less-inviting version of this in
2000 in hopes of elevating the Jewish
majority of, and achieving international
recognition for, a redrawn Jerusalem
before talks collapsed. Both sides will
need to engage in creative thinking
to deal with Jerusalem and how it
ultimately is geographically defined.
It was during the Barak era that the
Palestinians considered Abu Dis, on
Jerusalem's outskirts, for their capital
building.

A City United

We don't envision Jerusalem — a small
city of about 50 square miles with
800,000 people, including 200,000
Arabs — as a multinational, split city,
ever. It has been the symbolic epi-
center of Jewish yearning and think-
ing since King David repelled the
Jebusites 3,000 years ago — even
during the Babylonian exile. Jerusalem
has been known as the City of David,
the ancestral homeland of the Jews,
from his reign onward.
The JN is for a strong, secure Israel
with Jerusalem as its capital. It's for
a two-state solution that recognizes

AWA

We don't envision
Jerusalem as a
multinational, split
city, ever.

Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish
people, accepts a reasonable Jewish
presence in the West Bank and allows
Israeli forces in the Jordan Valley.
We're for a demilitarized Palestinian
state that shows the capacity to civilly
govern and prosper, condemn and sup-
press terrorism, and acknowledge the
Holy Land's Jewish roots.
We understand the difficult chal-
lenges confronting Israel and its nego-
tiators; still, Israel continues to pro-
vide jobs, medical aid and fresh water
to its Palestinian neighbors. We also
recognize that Israel faces the added
hurdle of being both a democracy
and a Jewish state. Still, Israeli Arabs
continue to enjoy freedom like none of
their contemporaries in Arab lands.
The Israel envisioned by the likes of
Zionists such as Philip Slomovitz, who
founded the JN in 1942, was one that
would not sacrifice democratic prin-
ciples or its Jewishness — religious or
cultural. That was a tough tightrope to
walk in those pre-statehood days. It's
even tougher today.
Not surprisingly, Jerusalem, the
citadel of Zion, is the lightening rod for
this latest round of negotiations. To
think otherwise is naive.

❑

March 6 • 2014

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