Foreign
Minister Puts His Faith In God:
Jerusalem Is
Our Eternal Capital, It Will Never
Be Divided
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman
said
Tuesday that Jerusalem is the
eternal
capital of the State of Israel and
that it
will never be divided - "neither
directly nor indirectly." Addressing
a
group of foreign diplomats at the
President's Residence in Jerusalem,
the
foreign minister quoted a speech
made by
former prime minister Menachem
Begin,
explaining that Begin's remarks
reflected
the connection that Jews around the
world
feel toward Jerusalem - a connection
that
still exists today. "Today," he
said, "I stand before you in
Jerusalem,
and confirm Begin's words: the city
will
remain our capital and will never be
divided." Lieberman stressed that
the
government of which he is a member
seeks
peace as long as there is a genuine
partner.
"The State of Israel has proven time
and again that it is prepared to pay
a high
price for peace with its neighbors
and has
already evacuated territory three
times its
size," he said. "We must now
create a new reality in the region
based on
security for Israelis, economic
prosperity
for Palestinians, and stability for
both.
Only then will it be possible to
negotiate a
final agreement between the
parties."