Labor leader MK Yitzhak Herzog and Hatnua chairwoman MK Tzipi Livni dismissed on Tuesday evening the remarks made by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu about Jerusalem, accusing him of making a cynical use of the capital.
“Bibi, like Bibi, exploits Jerusalem for his cynical needs,” the two said in a joint statement, adding that “the public has lost faith in Netanyahu and we will replace him.”
Earlier Tuesday, Netanyahu dismissed comments made by Herzog and Livni on Sunday, when they vowed that they will keep the Western Wall under Israeli sovereignty.
“I heard that they are ready to give the Palestinians a capital in Jerusalem, I heard some guy, some lady saying that the Kotel (Western Wall) will remain in our hands,” said Netanyahu.
He continued, “How will it stay in our hands? Swallowed up amid Palestinian territory? And how will we reach it? In a military convoy? In APCs (armored personnel carriers)? We didn’t return to the Kotel after 2,000 years to reach it in APCs.”
“I tell you today, on the last (eighth) candle of the Hanukkah holiday – the Kotel will stay in our hands. All of united Jerusalem will stay in our hands, Jerusalem will eternally remain under Israeli sovereignty,” added Netanyahu.
The statement may strike some as ironic given facts on the ground in the capital, where Jerusalem Councilman Arieh King has accused Netanyahu of leading to a de facto division of the city by freezing Jewish construction in the eastern half, and not sending police to accompany building inspectors to enforce building laws on Arab construction – there are 40,000 illegal Arab housing units in the city.
King recently noted that there are eight neighborhoods in Jerusalem that are “judenrein,” or “clean from Jews,” with entry for Jews to all eight of them forbidden by Netanyahu’s government since he came to power in 2009.
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