Last update - 00:00 25/02/2008
Kadima MKs adopt uniform stance against division of Jerusalem
By Shahar Ilan, Haaretz Correspondents
The Kadima Party MKs on Monday convened the party management forum, which includes all party members that aren't ministers, and expressed harsh criticism against the negotiations on the fate of Jerusalem. The forum decided that the party would adopt a uniform stance against the division of the capital.
The forum convened as peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians were underway, jumpstarted in November at a U.S.-hosted peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland. One of the core issues on the negotiating table is the fate of Jerusalem, parts of which the Palestinians want as the capital of their future state.
The division of Jerusalem within the framework of a peace deal is believed to be favored by Kadima party leaders, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who was out of the country on a diplomatic visit to Japan when the meeting was convened.
Coalition chairman Eli Aflalo said during the meeting that "we too have a stance, and we will make it heard loud and clear. Every MK has a finger, just like ministers."
Chairman of the House Committee David Tal said "I hope that we don't repeat [former prime minister Ehud] Barak's mistakes. My opinion is that Jerusalem mustn't be touched."
Acting coalition chairman Yoel Hasson said that "we have a political platform that we all agreed to. It and nothing different is Kadima's real road map."
MKs Otniel Schneller and Shlomo Molla however said they would be willing to negotiate handing over to the Palestinians those Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem that are not in the "holy basin."
"We mustn't bog down the peace talks," said Molla. Schneller maintained that "we have to allow for some political flexibility."
Finally, MK Isaac Ben-Israel said that "all the speakers so far have said that we must stick to our platform. I too think that Jerusalem is a landmine that must not be approached."
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