PM, Abbas to meet in bid to defuse Har Homa spat

Olmert has agreed to meet with Abbas in an attempt to solve the diplomatic spat that has broken out between both sides since Israel announced that it intended to build 307 housing units in the southeast Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Homa, on the Palestinian side of the Green Line.

Ha'aretz newspaper have explained why they think this misunderstanding has taken place:

Moreover, the Har Homa affair exposed the differences in the perceptions that both parties adhere to. As far as Israel is concerned, the neighborhood is an integral part of unified Jerusalem, and not part of the territories.

Construction at Har Homa is not subject to the same bureaucratic maze that any construction in the territories - be it a house, shack or electricity line - must endure before it is approved.

The Palestinians and their supporters in the international community do not make that distinction. To them, any Israeli construction east of the Green Line, which was Israel's border before the 1967 Six-Day War, is an illegal settlement. They treat construction in East Jerusalem much the same as they treat construction in the settlement blocs in the West Bank.

I find this simply extraordinary. The implication here is that international law is somehow confusing on this subject.

UN Res 242 calls for:

Withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict.

Now the Israelis have tried to argue that, as the resolution does not call for withdrawal of armed forces from THE territories occupied, that the resolution can be met by withdrawal from SOME of the territory occupied.

To this end, as the Ha'aretz article clearly explains, the Israeli government have been treating East Jerusalem as "an integral part of unified Jerusalem, and not part of the territories".

This thinking is enshrined in Israeli law - passed by the Israeli Knesset on July 30, 1980 - in the form of the Jerusalem Law, which states that Jerusalem is Israel's "eternal and indivisible" capital.

However, this law was immediately rejected by the international community in UN resolution 478 which stated that the Jerusalem Law is "null and void and must be rescinded forthwith".

It is for this reason that I find the way Ha'aretz have explained this "misunderstanding" as simply extraordinary. The Israeli government cannot be unaware that the international community - with the possible exception of the United States - do not share their view regarding Jerusalem. Indeed, no country in the world has it's Israeli embassy in Jerusalem, with most country's housing their Israeli embassy's in Tel Aviv. Even the US, who have passed a law calling for their embassy to be moved to Jerusalem, have balked at actually doing so.

Moreover, the Palestinians have long claimed East Jerusalem as the capital of any future Palestinian state which makes the fact that the Israelis feel they can build there with impunity simply breathtaking.

The Israelis are claiming that this decision was made by "low-ranking government bureaucrats in the Housing Ministry" and "that Olmert was not informed of the decision in advance".

The international community are treating this claim with skepticism, and I have to say that I agree. The notion that Israel are unaware - especially at a time when the US is attempting to bring the two sides together - that building new houses in East Jerusalem is highly controversial, is simply unbelievable.

One can only hope that Olmert's claim that he was not informed, and that this decision was made by "low-ranking government bureaucrats in the Housing Ministry" is a precursor to Israel backing away from this outrageous plan.

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Tags: Israel, Palestine, Olmert, Abbas, Har Homa