Israel should give up Jerusalem as its capital

just please step back people. forget if your jewish or palestinian. female or male, black or white, all your doing here is hating each other when you could be so fantastic together. a joint palestinian and jewish and everyone else nation. a beacon of hope for mankind, and a shining citidel of gold in jerusalem. its a glorious image. theres so much bad to hate in this world, so much suffering already. if people cant do this then whats the point in moving beyond mere fighting with your neighbour for food. because the time will come when the strain to do just that becomes unbearable, then we need unity.

King David built the City, his Son finished it...The Jews always cared for it even when they were scattered through out the world!!! As a matter of fact noone has ever even cared about Israel let alone Jerusalem! Sorry Palestine but Israel ownes Jerusalem!

You dont have a clue, every bit of it is jewish. Can the body be without a heart. So is jerusalem to Israel.It is the heart of israel.

"It has become one of the poorest, dirtiest and most failed cities in Israel, a city abandoned by the secular and the young" I know Israelis like to idealize TA,and denounce Jerusalem. Many times Israelis make sure I know they don't live in Jerusalem or like it,and that is fine. They want to disassociate with the religious,but in the media which is read overseas, it is important to clarify the real Jerusalem,which is not only exceptionally clean, but also has a solid long term population of seculars who enjoy a wonderful access to the arts. Jeruslaem may not have the pub scene of TA,but she has tons of cafes, fine restraunts,the symphony,art galleries, live theatre productions and much more. If you are 25 and want to go get drunk,go to a truly filthy city--Tel Aviv. If you are secular and enjoy fine arts and the ancient beauty of an amazingly pretty place, enjoy Jerusalem. Also,to call Jerusalem failed city is ridiculous. Birkat is protecting the secular sector with grace.

A better idea would be for the Arabs and their international supporters, including the author of this article, to recognize reality. Jerusalem has been the capital of Israel for more than sixty years and has been a united city for more than forty. It has a democratically-elected mayor and city council. All attempts to bomb it into a Palestinian state have failed and all available evidence shows that the vast majority of Jerusalem residents, including Arabs, do not want to live under Palestinian rule. When the Arabs are ready for peace with Israel they will be ready to recognise reality and the reality is that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. That is not because of the holy places but because of the Knesset, which is the only democratic parliament in the Middle East: in Jerusalem. If there is going to be a Palestinian state, for the first time in history, it will establish its capital in an Arab city, for example Ramallah which is already the capital of the Palestinian Authority.

I loved your post! From one who is not doing enough praying, but a small share of mitzvot, perhaps!

This city has always been Jewish, Jebusites have long been intergrated to the Israelite population and might compose the core of us Jews. While Mecca was no more than a trading outpost, Jerusalem was already the capital of the Jews. The same goes to Paris, Teheran, London, etc... No one except apart from the Jews themselves has the right to decide of the status of this city: It is OUR city. Let it be by historical roots, religious connection or by conquest. Double standards must stop.

http://wp.me/pDB7k-il "I don`t understand where the Palestinians have any rights to any land frankly, as before 67 it was Egypt and Jordan who had the land in question." They both occupied according to the GC's AND the armistice agreements with Israel. "I am all for negotiations and peace over what are essentially disputed, not occupied, territories" Israel's Sovereign territory is as Declared. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/decad169.asp It has never legally annexed an territory outside it's boundaries.

Jordan is "Palestine." Both statements are 100% wrong sfg. Amman is the declared capital of Transjordan, now Jordan, since 1927. Jerusalem remains the designated and recognised capital of Palestine, as it has been since 1922. When Transjordan was given independence, the only effect that had on Palestine was to make it smaller. It did not cease to be a separate territory, all that happened was that Jordan went its own way. Jordan has and makes no territorial or sovereign claims on Palestine. Jordan is completely irrelevant to the present or future status of Palestine. Some Zios try to muddy the waters with these odd claims. However, the international courts and UN are crystal clear on things: Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine and Israel's claimed 'annexation' and settlement of it is plain illegal and wholly unacceptable. That's why there are no foreign embassies in Jerusalem, no one recognises Israel's claim or landgrab.

If things are to be put in right historical perspective,what about the flourished Jewish settlements in Saudi Arabia ???? Why do negotiators miss that point?? Muslims from Saudi Arabia, occupied Jerusalem 1400 years ago,Jewish tribes were in Saudi Arabia much earlier,and their descendants are entitled to go back there. Negotiation about the future of Jerusalem should go hand in hand with the holy Jewish places in Saudi Arabia. Do not miss this point.

that fact fine'. You are mixing up two things Zionist forever. The rest of the world is not trying to dictate where Israel's capital should be. What is IS saying is that it cannot be on occupied or illegally annexed territory. And both West and East Jerusalem are on 'occupied' and 'illegally annexed' territory. They would be just as determined if Israel proposed having its capital in the Jordan Valley or Golan, as they too are 'occupied' and 'illegally annexed' territories. The rest of the world and the Arabs seem willing to compromise on the Green Line border. If Israel vacates E J'sem, then it is very likely that they WILL recognise WEST Jerusalem as Israel's capital. It is up to Israel and Palestine to negotiate any land swops over the Green Line border.

share' Jerusalem. What do you base that statement on Gilad? The PA/PLO have said they will accept the Green Line border. Hamas has said it will accept the Green Line Border. The Arab League has said it will accept the Green Line Border. And that Green Line border puts West Jerusalem in Israel. Sounds pretty much like 'sharing Jerusalem' to me.

Unfortunately neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians will have any control over the situation, as the Bible says in Zech 14:2 "the city shall be taken" (implying by force). This is Jerusalem's fate declared by God 4000 years ago,as prophesied to happen today.

Religious ideology supports the zionists? How come so many 'religious' Jews in Israel and everywhere else say that the 'zionist' entity is secular and that it is causing the rebirth of anti-semitism and that you are a danger for the diaspora? And how about the russian 1.5 mil who are not jews at all?

He was willing to wake the conscience of all the Israelis on the Jerusalem issue and see its holiness, so that we never give it up! Nicely done Yossi!

This is a non-starter. Not worth my energy. Giving up Jerusalem is like saying I should give up my family. Absurd!

Brilliant solution , I think it should be brought up at the negotiating tables.

Interesting article. Interesting solution. Nobody declares Jerusalem as their capital. OK. SO who controls the land? Having been to Jerusalem, my take was that the Arab sector was dirty and ill cared for, while the other parts were in much better shape. Israel has done a great job managing the city overall, and the police are very skilled, as opposed to the army, in handling the city. I don't understand where the Palestinians have any rights to any land frankly, as before 67 it was Egypt and Jordan who had the land in question. I am all for negotiations and peace over what are essentially disputed, not occupied, territories.

Sorry - beg to differ. For Palestinians it is a new found religious significance - for Jews it was the original capital (so not simply a holly city as you mention - it was the Capital, the location of the Sanhedrin (the 'kneset' and the center of religion - temple) - none of these applies in Palestinian context. Note also that Islam is a new invention relative to Judaism - and has decided to inject its narrative to on existing people (jews) narrative - that amounts for forging title document - tomorrow I will claim Aborigines in Australia are true owners of Meca & Medina by divine order and then what - have that claim accepted? The Quaran acknowledges who came first !!! thus if you (Islam) stake your holy site in the middle of someone elses existing holy site don't be suprised it causes some bad feelings and conflict (surprise supervise - especially after 1300 years of massacres against them) - it would be a very poor precedent if one was to capitulate to such logic...

SDHD: "Christians have hegemony over Vatican City" Catholics, actually. A member of the Anglican Church would have as much chance of standing in the middle of St Peter's Square and proclaiming himself to be a hegeon of all that he surveys as you would. SDHD: "Arabs have hegemony over Mecca and Medina." Muslims, actually. A Lebanese Maronite or an Syrian Druze would have about as much chance of standing in the Masjid al-Haram and claiming hegemony over it as you would. SDHD: "Cummings has hegemony over being retarded." There is nothing more pathetic than witnessing the smug blatherings of someone who is too dim to realize that they are As Thick As A Brick.

The idea of a Jewish state doesn't horrify most people, it's the refusal to negotiate a fair compromise with the Pals that horrifies people, and the refusal to acknowledge the obvious, that the Pals also have a legitimate historical claim. And most of all what horrifies some people is the stone cold treatment of Pal civilians during Operation Cast Lead. Stop playing Pharoah and let the Palestinians go.

A) Fact. Israel has never annexed the territories it illegally acquired by war by 1949. Israel has never legally annexed any territory. B) Israel took nothing from Jordan. Jordan was temporary Trustee over the West Bank. C) Israel's actual Sovereign boundaries are ONLY those it declared Sovereignty over May 14th 1948. D) Israel was recognized by those boundaries by the majority of the International Community of states, over riding the Arab States objections.

//"Jerusalem is the centrepoint for three faiths. It cannot work that one of them, by far the smallest, claims it must have 100% hegemony over everything it surveys."// True we are a minority amongst Christians and Muslims. "Christians have hegemony over Vatican City." It's not a centre for any other faith "Arabs have hegemony over Mecca and Medina" Nor are they "Cummings has hegemony over being retarded" Well, no. Cummings is correct and your thinking is quite awry.

Back in 2000, then President Bill Clinton had the best idea: Jerusalem will serve as the capital of the two states. There is room enough for both. West Jerusalem is already the capital of Israel, while a parliament building for the Palestinians can be built in East Jerusalem. Just as Israel has ministries in Tel Aviv, so too the Palestinians can have ministerial buildings in Ramallah.

"The home of John Brown has become a cesspit of fundamentalism.Full of bible nutters." - f. muir Conservatives in both Kansas and Israel realized just how easily manipulated religious fanatics are. And in both instances the politicians made use of the religious fanatics as a 'base' which could be driven to the polls by the threat of impending godlessness and their given mission to force their view of God on everyone. The problem is that eventually the politicians became dependent upon those fanatics. There came the time when the tail began to wag the dog. Now, in both cases, the dog has become rabid.

"In 1949 when the war of independence ended Israel was left with 78% of Palestine + west Jerusalem all of which it annexed after the war" On what date? Quote the annexation document.

Genetics studies thus far have created as many anomalies and questions as provided answers. See here: Jews and Their DNA. "Both of our studies, therefore, raise the possibility that the original R-M117 Levites were Khazarian Jews who migrated westward upon the fall of the Khazar kingdom. " https://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/jews-and-their-dna-12496?page=all or :Y chromosome evidence for a founder effect in Ashkenazi Jews." "Detailed analyses of haplotype structure, diversity and geographic distribution suggest a founder effect for this haplogroup, introduced at an early stage into the evolving Ashkenazi community in Europe . R-M17 chromosomes in Ashkenazim may represent vestiges of the mysterious Khazars." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15523495?dopt=Abstract

the battle of ammunition hill in 1967 cost the lives of many paratroopers.israel as you so rightly say has made numerous sacrifices for the city. we must not expect the opposition to understand our position.they have not come to the site to praise the jews

we have enough in common to have brought back the hebrew language to a nation of 5.5 million jews.to have forged a powerful economic entity.and to have sustained the most powerful armed forces in the middle east.(with HIS blessings)

So often it seems that what the Palestinians really want is a "d0-over" of 1948, but with the situation set up a head of time such that this time THEY win. Anyone else recall the Oslo accords being refered to as a "Trojan horse" by Palestinian moderates"

"Jerusalem is the centrepoint for three faiths. It cannot work that one of them, by far the smallest, claims it must have 100% hegemony over everything it surveys." Christians have hegemony over Vatican City. Arabs have hegemony over Mecca and Medina. Cummings has hegemony over being retarded.

If we bargain hard maybe they'll also throw in Medina and Damascus. THEN they can have Jerusalem.

But it should also be noted that beyond declaring Jerusalem the eternal capital of Israel and having government offices there, that few Israelis actually want to live in Jerusalem. If the Palestinians are willing to give up on Jerusalem as the capital of their state, than Israel should follow. Then Jerusalem could be de-politicized and become a true symbol of Peace among nations and religious holiness.

If Jerusalem has become a false idol that we have given an importance it should never have had then so is the entire state of Israel. Israel was created for the same religious ideology that having Jerusalem as the capital is based on. Without these religious ideologies then Israel cannot exist as a jewish state and without that there is no reason for it to exist at all. May as well give Neutra Karta what they want and give all the land over to the arabs and the jews go emigrate to Europe or the US where they can generally earn more money. Jerusalem & the jewish state idea are all part of the same package and if Jerusalem has no importance then neither does the entire idea of a jewish state.

in 1948 what borders are you referring to ???? theonly borders were the mandate borders !

Israel has never had lawful borders. In 1947 the UN partition proposed Israel get 51% of mandate Palestine & the other 49% to the arabs and Jerusalem would be some kind of international entity. In 1949 when the war of independence ended Israel was left with 78% of Palestine + west Jerusalem all of which it annexed after the war. Jordan took the remaining 22% of Palestine & east Jerusalem and that remained the border until 1967 when Israel captured the remaining 22% of Palestine and reunited Jerusalem as it should. If Israel was going to return to the UN proposed border it would mean not only giving the arabs the 22% that it took from Jordan but giving the palestinians an extra 27% of land within the green line. It would mean giving up Jerusalem in full. As the borders from 1949 - 1967 are ceasefire lines only & 1967 - today are ceasefire lines where are Israels lawful borders it has never existed within any. Certainly the borders proposed by the UN is not an option.

Dear Tamar.I loath the idea to give up Jerusalem but I ponder what PM Rabin meant when he agreed that fate of Jerusalem would be decided during future negotiations. It only means that Jerusalem can be " divided, "internationalised ' given away" whatever. Rabin was not " a wicked son". It left us with choice : 'a stupid son" or " wise & pragmatic one'. Did he think PA authority over E jerusalem ,but not PA capital, is acceptable while settlments , borders, refugees , claims etc. being resolved ? I do not know the answer. I am against professing the doom because of giving away part of jerusalem. It is not the end . End comes as the result of the war & war is very possible, We should recognaize that is the way of souverignity & the way of history & we are now still in "1948 ".

Firstly modern genetics refutes your theory of our foreieness. We may be mixed bloods, but we all have Jewish genes. Secomndly look at the book of Numbers 23:9 and then talk about "medievalism" This shaped our historic personality

Taking Melman?s excellent idea one step further: Palestinians are constructing their parliament and government buildings in the suburb of Jerusalem, a separate municipality of Abu Dis, planning to include it within the borders of East Jerusalem once the settlement with Israel is reached and Palestine state established ?with Jerusalem as its capital?. On the other hand most of Israeli national buildings are located in the neighborhood of Givat Ram in West Jerusalem (the Knesset, Supreme Court, Government Campus, National Museum and National Library). Palestinians should leave Abu Dis as their capital and Israel should exclude Givat Ram from Jerusalem?s municipal borders. There are many plans of how to keep Jerusalem as an open city under two different sovereignties and united, federal municipality ((i.e. The Beilin ? Abu Mazen Document from 1995).

O JERUSALEM ! "If I forget thee o Jerusalem.Let my right hand forget its cunning" ........ One only has to write for whatever reason, something negative about Israel, And suddenly you'll see a pack of hyenas surrounding Israel ready to lap its blood. These packs are made of the same usual haters,with a once-in-a-while new hyenas joining in for the kill !

Volkish thought emanated from the Romantic movement. Both Romanticism and belief in the Volk portrayed an inclination toward the irrational and emotional. Glorifying your people's land and history is a small step away from believing your race is superior. In Germany we know where this road led. "we are an ancient people and we live apart both in our thoughts and in our behaviour.that is all" That is all? That is quite enough. First when you say "we are an ancient people", you allude to a romantic and idealized interpretation of the biblical era and its scriptures. Today few Jews can be related to those ancient Judeans. The vast number of Jews are descendants of converts who never set foot in Israel before the 20thC, neither them nor their forefathers. So how do a disparate group who hail from Yemen, Khazar, Adiabene, Jewish Berbers, Arabs, Armenians, Slavs and Turks constitute a nation. The connection is both tenuous and mischievous. One had to believe the myth was real in order to forge the disparate groups that really had very little in common, culturally, geographically or historically. You still claim to believe or engage in the pretense of doing so. Why would any modern people even aspire to be a people who "live apart both in our thoughts and in our behaviour". The biblical Jews certainly did not. Only those in the shtetl and the ghetto did. That they did so was in the first place only because they were forced to. Whilst you think you are harking back to ancient times, in truth you are simply reflecting on a medieval condition imposed by the church and reinforced by 19thC ideas about ethnicity and racial separateness.

Yossi Melman and jews like him are described in Revelation 3:9...Jerusalem as a capital of Israel cannot be questioned and should not be shared with the people who has no claim to any part of Israel (which include Judea, Samaria and Gaza..).Palis have capital called Amman and should not call for second capital city in a country that does not belong to them....

Both Jews and the Palestinians would give up on the 'holy land' and move elsewhere. Jews would move to Canada where they will dry the swamps between Winnipeg and Vancouver, whereas Palestinians would move to Tibet, where they will start a religious war with the Dalai Lama. How come nobody thought of that before?

the beginning of the end.

This article states facts and then draws conclusions that are unrelated to the facts stated. Two hostile states cannot share the same capital city. Anybody who thinks otherwise is deluding themselves. Amman is the capital city of "Palestine". It is a Muslim city where Israelis are not allowed. Jordan is "Palestine."

As they insist on the right of return, and neither Fatah nor Hamas have given up their charters, which demand all of Israel.

About whom you never complain.

ISRAEL MUST RETURN TO ITS LAWFUL 1948 BORDERS.

Yossi is entirely right. We have made a false idol out of the city of Jerusalem giving it an importance it should have never had. Time to strip it of its urban legends and move our capitol to Tel Aviv.

One doesn't need to marry a mainstream rabbi in order to be able to write אם אשכחך ירושלים תשכח ימיני How many words did you get right? Check it on google, don't take my word for it. Funny that so many people still don't understand that old methods that haven't worked for 60-odd years are unlikely to work if you try them for the umpteenth time. No-one's backing away from Jerusalem. Muslims whose position is intransigent will stay that way no matter what we do. Those whose positions are moderate are the ones whose opinions on alternative, creative solutions should be sought.

Without a doubt the single most moronic article in Haaretz ever. The answer Mr. Melman is over your dead body.

Chris We don't need international recognition to have Jerusalem as the capital. Its countries that decide where they want their capital to be based nobody else. If Israel says that Manchester is the capital of England or New York is the capital of the US and says we do not recognize London or Washington as the capitals does that mean that those countries will change their capitals? Israel has just as much right to declare Jerusalem its capital as it does to call any other town or city as the capital and if the rest of the world doesn't like or recognize that fact fine thats their problem it won't make Israel relocate its capital. We are no longer a British colony now its for Israel to decide where its capital will be not a bunch of foreigners.

Solomon would have said the one willing to divide the ?baby? was not deserving to call it hers. Jerusalem?s future should be shared. Models, such as the rotating administrative leadership of the UN Security Council make the idea plausible. I have long proposed a central bureau flying a flag with symbols drawn from both peoples It would exercise authority via an alternating leadership. Let Jerusalem be the first bi-National capital with full acceptance of that identity by both sides. Let the Palestinians agree a unified Jerusalem is the capital of Israel--and let Israel agree Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine. The city?s police force can be bi-national as well. Sovreignty would them become moot.

The West Bank is not part of the Jewish State. I wouldn't give any part of the nation to Israel's enemies, Cipora, not the Jewish part, not the Muslim part, not the Druze part, not the Christian part. I'd keep all Israeli nationals no matter what their religion if it were up to me. Where were you when Jerusalem was being fought for? On the assumption you weren't here, I can tell you that keeping the West Bank was definitely not on the original menu. I'll add to that that had we administered Jerusalem in a way that could have seen it become united, I would not be talking the way I am today. I expressed this harebrained idea in a talkback last week. No idea whether it was posted or not, but I'm glad it's not only me who thinks there's something in it.

over East Jerusalem. When they resort to quoting from a book written by Jews for Jews.

and their supporters. Not one country on Planet Earth recognises Israel's soveriegnty over East Jerusalem. Not even the United States. You can scream and shout all you like even stamp your feet if you want to. Soon Israel will withdraw from East Jerusalem, Planet Earth will make the cost of occupation to great.

Israel was specifically created where religion & state were connected. Although it may be a secular state Israel is still a JEWISH STATE not some kind of multi cultural, multi faith country which exists to serve the residents. Israel was created for the people of a certain faith, all the symbols of state, the currency, the national holidays are all jewish and relate to no other faith. Even the IDF adopts jewish law Only jews have an automatic right to emigrate to Israel because of their faith. When Eichman was put on trial it wasn't simply war crimes like other Nazis were tried for he was put on trial for crimes against the jewish people If state & religion were seperate he would never have been tried on the charge of crimes against jews If Israel gave up its identity as a jewish state there would be no reason for it to continue to exist because the only reason it was created was to provide jews with a state of their own As faith & state are connected then Jerusalem is important

of light. The home of John Brown has become a cesspit of fundamentalism.Full of bible nutters.

Jerusalem will always be the heart of our People... the arabs and their progeny have NO claim whatever there. Those who live in peace can remain... there should never be a Philistinian state, so it needs no capital. Let them return to their homelands if they are desirous of their own traditions. The day will come when aliyah from the US will add another wave of "returnees"!

All humans are products of faith and religion. I am horrified that we want to use the arguement of stones and symbols to trade off our religion and forget that Jerusalem has been, and should continue to be, the capital of Isreal. How can Israel forget its history. Why is it that other religions defend their faith and Jews and Christians are always ready to give up on their own. I have not seen where a city is the capital of two countries and there is peace. I cant see peace in the Middle East simply because Jerusalem becomes the capital of two States. Instead, there will be more choas and Iran will readily fight on the side of the PA with its nuclear weapons. Let us stop that impending war now by insisting on Jerusalem as the capital of ONLY Israel.

one capitol in one state solution for two people...your choice izzy

Jerusalem is a micro-cosmos of the Israeli-Palestinian problem. The Palestinians insist upon East Jerusalem and Israel insists upon all of it.

No problem with the spelling in this case. One day, when you get married with a main stream Rabbi, you should say the words exactly as I have spelt them. The problem with Melman and friends is that the only party willing to share is Israel. Melman pretends that he is an equal in the city when it comes to long term claims. At present the Muslims have zero intent to share and any backing away from Jerusalem by Jews will only keep the Muslims further inside their intransegent positions keeping the possibiltiy of real peace at bay.

This is the most rediculous article I have ever read. Where does the author get the idea that Jerusalem is a dying city. I visit Israel twice a year and find it to be a most vibrant and improving city. Just look at all the construction sites and the infrastructure improvements underway, not the least of which is the railway line which though slower that hoped for, will in a few years be completed. The idea that the lsraeli government would move out of the City is so unreal as to be laughable. Perhaps it is time for the author to look for a new line of work for his talents.

one is mystified by your post.the words mean what they say.romanticism?where does that come in? we are an ancient people and we live apart both in our thoughts and in our behaviour.that is all. there is no material here for you to make hay with.more later.going out now

Don't ger fooled! The real reason that Yossi wants us to give up Jerusalem as the capital has nothing to do with the conflict. The real reason is that Jerusalem is becoming too Haredi for his tastes. It is losing its secular cosmopolitan flavor, and he would want something more racy like tel Aviv or quiter like Herzliya.

WHAT ? REALLY ? What do you say ?

By your article, you have demonstrated your exclusion from the Jewish people. Would you give up your mother for a 100 dollars? Perhaps you might, but the vast majority of Jews would not. Since you are not comfortable among us fundamentalists, please move to San Francisco (the opposite of Jerusalem). you wont be missed here

Ron #8, Thank You. Right on.

But human life is more sacred as well compromise might save many innocent lives that might get lost in fighting . Jerusalem is big enough to accommodate both the palestinians and the Israelis

It is not the subtlety of the biblical words to which you refer that account for the view you espouse though. The words refer quite brazenly to those who would undermine the Temple Priesthood by engaging with foreigners and their customs. Those who would mix the peoples.ie almost everyone outside of the Temple cult. Your views have a more modern pedigree. The notion of the wandering Jew who sojourns amongst the nations is post biblical and Christian. This has been mixed in with 19th century ethno biological orientated nationalism/Volkish romanticism and the adoption of these traits into Zionist ideology. Using the Old Testament as a largely mythical foundation on which to graft a modern day vision of a Jewish nation is simply convenient.

Palestine belongs to the palestinian Moslems.cristians and jews in the same sense that England belongs to the English or France belongs to the French,With Jerusalem its capital.Not for the out siders who wants DOUBLE HOME.

Evidently ego gets in the way of commonsense and this onetime author/'journalist' is tripping on his Jewish insecurities as he make statements about a holy town he seems to know nothing about. Ignorant arrogance is his cup of tea which brews with the latest leftist blend of anti-Jewish sentiment and self-hatred. drunk with self-piety, he rips pages out of anti-jews ledgers and props them up here with his unhidden bias against Jewry and what is holy. The streets you travel on Melman are much dirtier than Jerusalems polished stones of Jewish History. The foul little rich people you and yours may associate with pale against the rich,but poorer but happier citizens of Jerusalem- religious and the religiously secular who have been guardians of soil and upward heavens which you will never understand. Keep running Melman...out of Israel!

There's the not so small matter of the land and the population that Israel insists on holding on to . Does it need so many more Arab-Israelis? They will surely vote in their own mayor, and start demanding better than garbage pickup every 3 weeks ( I'm quoting the Jerusalem Report ). Beware of what you wish for, as the saying goes.

sh is always so eager to give parts of the nation to israel's enemies. for your information, the vast majority of israeli jews do not share your ardent desire to dismantle the jewish state. those who had fought for the liberation of jerusalem have spiritual heirs. make no mistake about it, israel's jewish population would never ever agree to the author's suggestion. keep in mind that the far left, and indeed the left, are moribond in israel precisely for the harebrained ideas that you so fervently attempt to propagate.

"we jews are an intellectual people." harzion But not sufficiently intellectual to make peace or stop breaking laws. Huh???, Multi headed one.

yossi melman has forgotten that the fight for jerusalem was bloody and devestating for the soldiers and many had given their lives in order that jews, whether in israel or in the galut might have the right to pray in all of jerusalem. those who fought with such ferociousness did so precisely because all and everyone of them, secular or not, recognised that jerusalem is holy in the most meaningful way to all jews.

This giving up of Jerusalem as the Israeli capitol is the same old story. It will not end the conflict, it will merely produce more and more outrageous demands.

Who are you to malign journalists who live here - or anyone else who does for that matter - anyway?

and you could have saved yourself the essay on the jebusites.we jews are an intellectual people. our dwelling alone is just as likely to refer to our minds as in our physical boundaries.

The Palestinians are "willing"? Why, that's really nice of them. Really nice. The only fly in this particular ointment is that there is no such people as the "Palestinians", and thus what they are "willing" to do is about as important as what the "wooga-wooga people from nooga-nooga land" are "willing" to do. Why do we pander to these terrorists? Why do we encourage them in their belief that killing Jews will achieve their aims? Every time we make a concession.. we sign the death warrant of another young Jew in a discotheque.. or an older Jew who will be slaughtered and tossed overboard from a cruise liner. Fear has to change sides. End of story.

Israel gets thank you's from Gaza via rockets. No one in their right minds wants them being fired from Jerusalem. There will not be two states exactly for this reason and the example of the Gaza fireworks factories. Such a silly , inconsequential man. Easily forgotten. I didn't know they made Jewish Chamberlains.

East Jerusalem should be administered by Palestine and the west side by Israel with a joint citi council. I know this is utopia.

jews dont want to dwell alone but forced to do so! we ve been massacred and discriminated(still exist in many country) in all countries in the world. is it too much to want a country that belong to us and in which we re not discriminated. why does everyone in this world re terrified when jews try to have something that belongs to them? i know the answer because thanks to ur kind of people we learned to turn even a little particle in the dust into mountains of gold and silver. when we came back to isr jerusalem and other cities were miserable. no one wanted that land! jews turned this desert into a european country than made it even better. Isr has now the best thecnology and best agriculture gets its water from the sea. while countries next to it knows only to have an army and fight. egypt learnt from isr and now money comes from everywhere. just jelous of what we had and what we have acomplished with it and what we can do.many others have more resouces but cant get close to isr.

UNGA resolution 181 is irrelivent today and has ever been put into effect as planned. Partition was to give the jews 51% of Palestine & 49% to the arabs. In the war Israel captured an extra 27% which it later annexed. The 1967 border is the remaining 22% of Palestine not the 49% the UN offered. So Israels border from 1949 - 1967 occupies over half the land allocated for the arab state. Jerusalem never became a corpus seperetum. The arabs of Palestine on Israels side of the border were supposed to be given Israeli citizenship, there was never supposed to be a refugee problem. If Israel was going to go back and do things by Resolution 181 it would allow the refugee return because they would have always lived in Israel. We know thats never going to happen. The only part of 181 that ever came into effect was the creation of Israel. Whatever the UN says Jerusalem is never going to be internationalized same way Israel won't give the arabs 49% of old Palestine or allow refugee return.

From the spelling I gather you're maybe not here very long or need a refresher course in Hebrew. No-one was proposing giving away Jerusalem. The proposal was sharing it, or just putting our administrative capital somewhere else and leaving it to be what it was supposed to be: holy. Maybe you missed this paragraph in the article: "Would this mean that Israel is giving up on the Jewish connection to Jerusalem? Of course not. The religious, historic and emotional connection will remain, precisely like it did during 2,000 years of exile, which did not blur that link. Does this mean that the two sides are relinquishing their historic rights or sovereignty over the city? Of course not. " Someone here suggested Sderot for Israel's capital. Not a bad idea at all! What do Palestinians propose as their alternative capital until we can trust each other enough to share Jerusalem?

be sure of that, if Israel make such a move to declare Sederot as capital leaving Jerusalem to PALS, the Pals people will leave throwing games rockets and thus israel would leave the killing in GAZA.

Is Yossi Jewish?

Never in the history of Israel,Judea,Judah,Ephraim, have you been a people that 'dwells alone'. Before you departed on your 'national mythical journey' you should have done at least some cursory study. When David ruled that city[village that it was]it was inhabited by Jebusites who continued to live alongside the newcomers. Gibeonites, Phillistines etc were populous throughout Samaria. The peoples always mingled as much as it pained the priestly elites in Jerusalem. Even your biblical sources point this out, were you to read them more carefully. There were Samaritans aplenty in the land during the first and second Temple periods. There is furthermore a rich and well attested tradition of idolatry in Jerusalem and throughout the land. It was never marginal but commonplace and menorahs existed alongside ashterah in the same homes. A mass of sacrificial sites have been unearthed which remained in use throughout the first temple period, and a deluge of ashterah have been found from Jerusalem itself form before and even after this period. Judaism was syncretic in practice right up until the rabbinic period in Roman times. Only after Ezra/Nechamia's outlawing of the prevalent custom of intermarriage [a custom in existence from the time of David and Solomon] was there any real change. Even then Ezra overnight disappears from the scene without trace, likely beating a hasty retreat. Only in Christian commentary were the Jews presented as a people who 'dwell alone', supposedly as a divine punishment for their rejection of Christ. This was only mirrored in the post Roman Rabbinical era so as to keep the faith alive. Yet biblical Israel was as cosmopolitan as Rome and even today we see an Israel where 1 in 4 are non Jewish, and most of the remainder non religious. Wanting to dwell alone is not the same things as doing so.

How exactly can the UN govern a city? Will the UN collect municipal taxes and decide how that money should be spent? Will the UN arrange for the garbage to be collected? Will the UN arrange for the building and running of schools and hospitals Would the UN arrange building projects like the Strings bridge of the light rail? Will the UN run the police? Will the UN sort out the busses? When a business wants to set up in Jerusalem are they going to have to deal with the UN? When the haredi protest over intel plants or car parks being open on Saturday will the UN deal with it? The Western Wall plaza was built by demolishing the Mugrab quarter would the UN do that? In the modern world a city can only be governed by an independent state organizations like the UN which don't work at the best of times cannot run a city. The UN doesn't function properly at the best of times having them run Jerusalem, companies like intel would all start leaving they want to deal with the UN.

Do not forget to temporarily give up your Israeli passport (and your national anthem) for a Palestinian one. After all, these Jewish symbols have no place in a secular world, and have also been obstacles to peace. Can you also rename Jerusalem temporarily to al-Kuds?

Jerusalem is the centrepoint for three faiths. It cannot work that one of them, by far the smallest, claims it must have 100% hegemony over everything it surveys. Whatever the emotional pull of J'sem, the legal facts are 100% against Israel. The city was NOT given to Israel in 1948, it was to be a corpus seperatum under international control. No nation can gain territory by war and conquest, it was been outlawed in the UN Charter and by international law 60 years ago. Israel actually has no legal sovereignty or territorial rights in WEST Jerusalem - though the rest of the world seems to be turning a blind eye to that - and certainly has none either in E J'sem, as an occupying army cannot annex land. Two municipal authorities, one Israeli, one Palestinian, with a clear border between them, and Israel has done very well out of what is, in law, simply land theft. (Historical religious and ethnic tales don't tend to cut it in modern courts).

At first I thought if we have them Sinai we silk have peace. Them I'm told give them half of Hebron so we can have peace. Them I told give them atonomy in west bank and for sure we will have peace. Then we still have no peace so we are told get out of gaza this we way can finaly have peace so we give them gaza. And gave them no more exapansuon of setllements and we gave and we gave and we gave... And now this idoliot says we should give them Jerusalem and we will have peace and the next idiot say we should give them golan and we will have peace. And yet another one says we should leave and evacute another city For what??? Don't you get it??

Arabs knows history better than Mister Melman. They understand that a state of Israel without Jerusalem is a nonsense and will deasepear soon, like the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem with Tiberias as a capital..

...where Israel should move its capital? Israel is not the world's colony! I don't think the capital should be moved, but if it is, I second Barry's(no.26) magnificent proposal.

Without Jerusalem, there is barely an Israel from a spiritual standpoint. Diaspora Jews do NOT back the settlement enterprise in general, but will fight wherever they are for Israel to be able to keep Jerusalem. That being said, points of sovereignty within the Old City, as well as control over the Muslim holy places, can be granted to Palestinians. It can effectively be the capital of both nations.

I don't quite understand the motivation of the Melman's of this world. Sometimes I think that comments like these are made just so that they can trigger rage amongst conservative thinking Jews so that lists can be made of the these same Jews by some Left thinking dept in the Shabak. I really do. If this is the case then you can put my name to the list. I do care about the long term interests of the Jewish people. Giving away Jerusalem would spell deisaster for Jews in Israel, especially the secular Jews Melman believes he is representing. אם אשקחח ירושליים אשקח ימיני

There is a better solution than what Yossi Melman suggests.Israel should give up all the leftist Jews.The leftis write books claiming that the Jews are an invented myth,accuse Israely army of war crimes.Let them leave Israel and the Jewish nation.Return to the countries of origin where they can make millions writting their leftist books.The Jewish nation belongs to those that beileve in the sacred Jewish pricipals.When the leftist will leave Israel there will no longer be any friction with Arabs as there will be plenty of room for both

Why not give the rest of the house as well and move to Uganda? Thinking that giving up Jerusalem would change anything is insane to say the least.

Melman makes a stupid proposal, but there is absolutely no reason why we and the Palestinians cannot share the city. After all, what matters to them and to us (and to the Christians) are the holy places which for the most part are in the Old City. The rest of the city is of no particular significance. Put the Old City under international control and divide the rest between us and the Palestinians. In fact, Jerusalem is already a divided city.

The Palestinians want Jerusalem as a capital because it is their biggest city and it is the economic heart and connection to the international world. Much of their economy has suffered since being cut off from the city. These are the reasons that states declare capitals where they do. If the Palestinians could access Jerusalem, live there, and trade freely, I'm sure they could be convinced to give up on the capital-city claim for awhile. It's only used to try to keep this resourceful city and its people in the negotiations for them. Israel, however, sees Jerusalem as a gateway and lever to it's establishment of their state in the West Bank. I think Yossi's analysis is sober and realistic.

Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands, but the government resides in The Hague. So make Tel Aviv Israels capital and let government do its business in Jerusalem. Quick and cheap solution.

No-one is denying the centrality of Jerusalem to religious Jews and no-one is talking of depriving them of that. What is being envisaged is accepting the centrality of Jerusalem not only to people who are not religious at all but also to people of other religions. You don't have to own everything that is central to you. You don't keep your money in your mattress do you? You're content to use the bank, right? The obstacles to peace are not only Fatah's unwillingness to recognize Israel as a Jewish state but also the denial by many Israeli and other Jews that Jerusalem's Arab population has rights there and Christians and Muslims the world over have rights of access to their holy places there too. This makes Jerusalem unlike any city in the world. There is always a spark of hope. It's a question of looking for it and nourishing it instead of expecting others to do it for you.

A really visionary article. Well-thought and written. I agree with the author 100%, but on two conditions: 1) All of the foreign embassies, consulates and ambassadors' residences be moved to the new capital within 4 months. No exceptions. 2) The new capital is Sederot.

but he misses the difference. we are a people that dwells alone.not reckoned among the nations.

Have you read the charter of the Hamas? They want all of Israel, not only Jerusalem.

jerusalem is the soul of the nation.

And maybe the US should make las vegas its capital, and Russia should move its capital to sibera. Or how about france move its capital to normandy? And while we're at it, why doen's the UK move its capital manchester?

Do we move the PM & presidents residences ? Do we say soldiers must will be buried in Tel Aviv not Mount of Olives? It doesn't address the day-day running of the city as long as Israel even collects the garbage Jerusalem will still be an issue. This would also be only first step, tthe arabs always take every offer & use it as a starting point to push for more It doesn't matter if its Likud, Kadima or Labour just proposing the idea would bring the government down because for both the left & right that proposal is to extreme Assuming the government lasted long enough to bring it before the Knesset it wouldn't pass the first reading, other than the arabs possibly the only party that might support the idea is Meretz Israel is not a secular multi cultural, multi faith European counties which exist for to serve their residents. Israel was created to be a jewish state & serve people of a certain faith & as long as it is crazy ideas like this will never enter main stream politics.

"If I forget thee Jerusalem cut off my right arm" History teaches us that Jerusalem has been the capital of Israel in the past. It has NEVER been the capital for any other people. The author is a fool to suggest Israel change capital cities even "temporarily" or in any way parlez Jerusalem into a concession that appeases Palestinians. Face it. Jerusalem is the ETERNAL capital of the Jewish people. If the author doesn't like it or wants to compromise, he can move elsewhere...he's already given up what makes him a Jew.

The Palestinians have recognized no rights of Israel to make any religious, historical or cultural claim to one teaspoon of "East Jerusalem" and are ambiguous as to West Jerusalem. The modest proposal that Israel temporarily move its capital is a joke.

This article is interesting, but it tells a very partial truth. It claims to speak for all Jews and Israelis but in fact a good share of Jews and Israelis are religious. For most of them Jerusalem is central to their religious identity and considering it a secular capital makes no sense to them. This is I suspect true also for that very large percentage of Israeli Jews who may not be Halachically observant but who care very much for Jewish Tradition. Secondly, the obstacle to 'peace' is not Jerusalem but the Arab unwillingness, including the Fatah unwillingness to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. The Arabs demand Israel's destruction as condition for an agreement, and for them agreement flooding Israel with descendants of Arab refugees would be an ideal way of destroying the Jewish state. Thirdly there is no' spark of hope' at the moment. There is American pressure on one of its closest allies. The result:The Arabs won't even talk with us.

Jerusalem as the capital of both states, as the symbol of aspirations and hopes going beyond the limited nationalistic scope is the vision that should be held by people interesting in forging a future together in this regioin.

The Pals do nothing and the ewvictions will be considered a crime against humanity. Ethnical cleansing as a not so interiour problem...

Melman misses a crucial point. The issue of Jerusalem is not merely religious -- Jerusalem is the HISTORICAL capital of the Jewish people. It has been the seat of government for Jewish sovereignty when Jews ruled themselves and it is the place where Jews in exile have prayed to see their rule restored. By contrast, when exactly did there exist any Muslim state with a capital in Jerusalem? Can't even think of one...

Yossi does it again. Yes, the Vatican is a state. You really have come up with a useless idea. There is no reason for Israel to yield anything. Until Arafat and his PLO terror friends began to weasel the media, problems were solvable. Yassar, like you, made wild statements, hoping that if done often enough, one might stick. Jerusalem with its Temple Mount was purchased lawfully by King David. You are a fool to think that does not mean something!

This is a lousy idea. No one will agree to it! Plus I do not believe that internationalization of cities has been particularly succesful in the past. This has nothing to do with my politics as I am pretty left leaning. I'd be happy to move for peace.

First, I agree entirely with what was posted by David and Ron. Netanyahou should say it very loud that Jerusalem will never be divided and will remain Jewish. Second,the left propaganda,appeasement, and giving away land will never work. Look what happened when Gaza was given away, or when Tchechoslovakia was given to Hitler. They answered by destroying more.

What the writer (and Haaretz) doesnot grasp, is the 'energetic charge' of Jerusalem. Jerusalem isn't called 'holy' for no reason. There is an enormous outpouring of raw divine energy here, that is why it was called 'the navel' of the world. This energy has to be channeled properly, in order to be beneficial to humanity.Tthat is why the Temple was built, with very precise measurements, in order to contain this energy. The destruction of the Second Temple was like a melt-down on the scale of Chernobyl, energetically speaking. This energy needs to be contained again - which is what all orthodox people are trying to do with prayer and keeping mitzwot, greatly helped by a small number of tzaddikim (also female ones!) This raw divine energy is the reason both Jews and Moslims desire to live here, but the energy is dangerous if not contained properly. That is why the Turks and the British and any foreign occupiers didnot manage to maintain their presence here!

Yossi- Maybe the only part of Jerusalem that is dirty is the Arab part. Or maybe you have never even been there!

So, we can presume, of course, that Melman would support exclusive Jewish rule over Jerusalem if Jerusalem had improved since being unified in 1967. Ooops, it has!

Melman has lost his mind, now we should move our capital & concede yet even more to the most undeserving peoples on earth who have rejected evey peace plan ever sent their way & even today reject negotiations for peace. (47,2000,2001,2008) Here's a better idea Yossi, we control the land, we tell the Palestinians to go fly a kite. Every day they reject peace - the deal gets worse, we take more & more off the table, not concede more. It is this constant weakness preventing peace, until the Palestinians realize without peace they get nothing they will never compromise - Instead the weakest amongst our society only wants to give them more like some battered & abused wife cooking her husband ever more extravagant meals. Jerusalem has been our capital for over 3000 years, whomever doesn't like it can shove it, the palestinians included.

"Forty-two years of Israeli rule over a united city have not been good to it. It has become one of the poorest, dirtiest and most failed cities in Israel, a city abandoned by the secular and the young" Yossi,I dont know which Jerusalem you are describing.The Jerusalem I know is the most beatiful cities in the world.It is not dirtier that Tel Aviv and Haifa.Poor ,maybe the Charedi population is poor statistically and materially. Maybe what you would like to see in Jerusalem is more brothels and strip clubs and drunk drivers o0n weekend nights ,just like in Tel Aviv.

The writer should move to Uganda... making the "Jewish homeland" in Israel was a mistake, because then there would be peace...

This article is absurd: "Israel and the Palestinians should consider isolating Jerusalem" from peace discussion??? SINCE WHEN IS JERUSALEM A PALESTINIAN CAPITAL!!!!??? Since they UNILATERALLY CLAIMED IT!?? Sometimes I do not understand liberal and outside opinions which do not consider the FIXED realities and unassailable TRUTHS that abound like an elephant in the living room! Its blatant anti-semitism, anti-Jewish, anti-PEACE for anyone to take away a city that was forcefully taken away from a people multiple times throughout history, only for these idiots to support such again! Dumb opionions should be 'excluded' from these talks...PERIOD!!! Jerusalem is, always was and always will be a JEWISH CITY. THE WORLD SHOULD STOP 'INCLUDING' JERUSALEM IN ANY OF THEIR CONSDIERATIONS: IT IS JEWISH AND BELONGS TO ISRAEL, LOCK, STOCK AND BARREL AND ANY ATTEMPT TO DIVID IT OR TAKE IT AWAY THIS TIME WOULD BE DISASTEROUS FOR THE AGGRESSOR. 'NUFF SAID.

Great idea but with the "facts on the ground" of Israels control over Jerusalem it is Israels duty to make the first move.

Jerusalem is the capital of all religions, peoples, life ... Jerusalem is the capital of believers in the Great Spirit. Jerusalem does not belong to anyone! The Great Spirit will crush whomever tries to claim Jerusalem as his/hers.

One solution, and one alone for peace.

It's called silent eviction. Slowly but surely, Israel makes it more and more impossible for any palestinian state to declare Jerusalem as it's capital. Palestinians need to consider. Either they accept Israel as it is and make peace, or they keep denying the truth and see their own land taken away bit... by bit... by bit... Many Palestinians are already leaving to other countries for a better lifestyle. Israel will have absolutely no advantage in giving up the capital from which it's whole history is based upon.