Jerusalem mayor rejects Clinton's criticism of house demolitions

Jerusalem's new mayor said Thursday that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was ill-informed when she criticized the demolition of Arab houses in this hotly disputed city, insisting the practice was about law and order, not politics.

In a visit to the West Bank city of Ramallah on Wednesday, Clinton called Israel's demolition of the illegally built Palestinian homes unhelpful and in violation of a U.S.-backed peace plan.

Nir Barkat countered that Jerusalem was a victim of a double standard and a campaign of Palestinian disinformation.

"I totally reject the notion that we are kicking people out of their homes, that is not the case," he said. "If you build illegal houses you pay the consequence...I expect people to obey the law."

Barkat said he made his position clear to Clinton personally during her visit.

Israel has issued orders for the demolition of dozens of Palestinian homes in east Jerusalem. Palestinians acknowledge the homes were built illegally but say they cannot receive proper building permits from municipal authorities, and that Israel is using the demolitions as a tool to assert control over the entire city.

Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed the area. Palestinians seek east Jerusalem as the capital of a future independent state. The fate of the city is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Speaking to foreign journalists, Barkat denied the home demolitions were politically motivated, emphasizing that since the beginning of the year the city had demolished 28 illegal homes - 17 in the predominantly Arab eastern sector and 11 in the predominantly Jewish western area.

"In west and east Jerusalem, the planning process and the ability to give licenses needs improvement," he said. "However, it is not an excuse for people to build illegally."

Barkat said he was acting to expedite the licensing procedure and had increased investments in the eastern part of the city as part of his commitment to improve the quality of life there. Though annexed nearly 41 years ago, the eastern sector has not enjoyed the same kind of investment in infrastructure, schools and other services that the western sector has. And the vast majority of the housing construction there has been for Jews, not Palestinians.

Barkat, 49, was elected mayor in November on a platform that highlighted his desire to keep the city united. In the interview, he reiterated his opposition to sharing the city with the Palestinians and voiced hope of linking Jerusalem to Maaleh Adumim, a large Jewish West Bank settlement nearby.

"Sharing the city is the wrong solution, he said. It may look nice on paper but it will not work," he said.

"But these are decisions made by Israel's government, and the municipality is not involved."

Barkat spoke shortly after a Palestinian from east Jerusalem rammed a heavy construction vehicle into a police car in the western sector of the city, slightly wounding two officers, before he was shot dead by other police at the scene. It was the third such attack in the past year, and Barkat said Israel had to impose stiffer punishment on the attackers and their families, including demolishing their homes.

"We need to make sure that deterrence is as strong as possible," he said.

Barkat turned to politics after a successful career as a high-tech entrepreneur and venture capitalist. He was the first chairman of Checkpoint Software, a leading maker of computer security technology.

Barkat defeated an ultra-Orthodox Jewish candidate, and inherited the tricky job of managing a city deeply divided between Arab and Jew, religious and secular, rich and poor.

Its 800,000 residents make Jerusalem Israel's largest city. But it is also one of its poorest, and young professionals are increasingly leaving in search of better job prospects and a secular atmosphere.

In a wide-ranging interview, Barkat also spoke about his vision of making Jerusalem a top tourist destination comparable with London, Paris and New York. He said one of his main goals was to draw 10 million tourists a year, up from the current average of 2 million.