For a number of years, Israeli governments were faced with the problem of a growing number of Jews leaving Jerusalem because of lack of housing and jobs, while there was a growth in the Arab population of Jerusalem. A number of committees dealt with ways to correct this situation, the more recent one appointed by Prime Minister Netanyahu and headed by the Director-General of the Prime Minister's office. On the eve of the publication of the report, the State Department spokesman called the proposed expansion of the city's municipal area "a provocative step at this sensitive time in the negotiations", and Secretary Albright spoke to the Prime Minister by phone.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet adopted the committee's recommendations in its weekly session, and further elaboration was given by the Prime Minister and the Mayor of Jerusalem in a press conference held after the Cabinet's session. The Prime Minister explained the nature of the proposed plans and insisted that the timing of the report had no political significance. Text of the Cabinet communique and the press conference follow:
At the Cabinet meeting today (Sunday), 21.6.98:
The Cabinet decided to adopt the recommendations of the Committee to Strengthen Jerusalem for All Its Residents.
The main components of the plan are:
1. The expansion of Jerusalem's jurisdiction.
2. The creation of an umbrella Jerusalem municipality, in order to streamline services in the Jerusalem region.
3. Incentives for high-technology industries in Jerusalem.
4. Housing benefits designed to reduce the gap, by as much as possible, between prices of apartments within Jerusalem and comparable apartments in its metropolitan area.
5. The upgrading of the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem train line.
6. The creation of an integrated mass transit network, street-cars and buses in Jerusalem.
7. The accelerated development of arterial roads in Jerusalem.
8. The acceleration of neighborhood rehabilitation projects in Jerusalem.
At the meeting, the Prime Minister said that there is no basis for the condemnations of Israel as a result of the plan. Israel is acting to strengthen Jerusalem, not to change the political status of the city, and there has been no addition of territory to the east of the city, only to the west.
The Prime Minister said that this is nothing but an artificial attempt by the Palestinians to castigate Israel, and he hopes that this is not being done with the encouragement of Israelis.
The plan is to be welcomed since it elevates Jerusalem to the top of the pyramid of priorities for government ministries.
The Mayor of Jerusalem and the Director-General of the Prime Minister's Office presented the plan. The Prime Minister and the Mayor praised the professional staff, headed by the Director-General of the Prime Minister's Office, which prepared the report.
Question: Mr. Prime Minister, the U.S. Government is on the record as opposing this plan. Are you prepared to have an open crisis with them right now?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: This is not an issue for a crisis. This is not an issue. It's an artificial storm, in an artificial teacup. All these are administrative decisions vis-à-vis Jerusalem itself, without changing the status of the city or the status of the localities around the city. There is nothing here that changes the status of Jerusalem.
I heard one of the Washington Post correspondents, Howard Kurtz, on a weekend television show talking about journalism - I think he was referring to journalistic scandals that have plagued the United States recently. He said, "The most important thing is truth. The most important thing is accuracy. Not to describe something that isn't as something that is." I must say that the whole fanfare, the whole press story that presented this as somehow changing the status of Jerusalem or the communities around Jerusalem, is hog-wash. There is no such change. All we're dealing with is the pooling of certain municipal services to make them more efficient, such as fire-fighting, hospital treatment, education, rescue work, and so on. There is no change whatsoever in the status. We're already giving those services in the communities around Jerusalem. Israel is already providing them. Whether we provide them through a Jerusalem location or through the government offices directly, is an irrelevant issue. We are not changing the status of any one of those communities, or of Jerusalem.
I suspect that this whole artificial storm was cooked up several days after we made the decision, in order to create a counter-balance to the fact that we were alerting the international community to Palestinian violations in the UN. This is a very crude and distorted way of trying to redress the balance. They are violating Oslo at the UN, and at the same time, they're attempting to upgrade their status from observer to statehood, and we're perfectly in line. I stated this when we made the decision today in the government as well: we are perfectly in line with the Oslo Accords. We are not the ones violating the Oslo Accords, including in the matter of Jerusalem. The Palestinians have tried to put their offices in, their people in, their security people in Jerusalem, against the agreement. What we're doing is for the benefit of all Jerusalem residents, Arab and Jew alike. We're building public transportation systems. We're building facilities for culture. We're getting hi-tech emphasis to Jerusalem. We're building an MIT in the middle of The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. These are great things for all Jerusalem residents. The attempt to describe this as a political action - that is the political action, that is the provocation; not what we're doing.
Question: Prime Minister, I'm a bit confused. Why is it you who has to sit here and tell us how more efficient fire-fighting will be with this new program? If there is no political component to it, why is this press conference taking place in your office and not in the Mayor's office?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: Because a decision involves several government offices. That's the way our government works. Furthermore, I gave an example. I didn't give a decision because we have decided to appoint a committee to decide which communities would be included in this municipal umbrella, and what services would be included. We haven't made that decision yet. That's going to be brought to the government. That is the way our system works. The Mayor - with all due respect - does not have command of the government offices, at least not yet.
Mayor Olmert: That's right. Not yet.
Prime Minister Netanyahu: The Prime Minister is the only one who can direct the various government services to give this attempt at pooling services any meaning. Therefore, we made a decision which has been blown up beyond belief and distorted beyond recognition. The reason we're dealing with this now is because some gentleman in the press blew it up and distorted it. So we're putting the record straight.
It was also said that I had said that we are changing Jerusalem's status. That's not what I said. That was a mistranslation from Hebrew. I said that we're changing the "standing" of Jerusalem. I was referring to the hi-tech, rapid transit change that we're bringing to Jerusalem. I said it would be a different city. We're changing the standing of Jerusalem. This was translated, or mistranslated, or deliberately mistranslated, as changing the status of Jerusalem. This is, I hope, an example only of sloppy reporting and not contentious reporting, because this is something that cannot be allowed to pass. There is absolutely no political component, and certainly not an iota of any departure from the political agreements that Israel is committed to and that this government is committed to. This is all hog-wash.
Mayor Olmert: I would like to add just one point. In my mind, there are just two reasons for this press conference. Number one: this is a comprehensive plan to strengthen the city of Jerusalem, which is a national priority, and this has been sponsored by the government and the Prime Minister. I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the Prime Minister, when he ran for office in the first place, made Jerusalem into a first priority of his future government and he is fulfilling his commitment which he made before the elections. It is only natural that once the Cabinet approves of this comprehensive plan, that the Prime Minister would be willing to announce it in this proper manner. That's number one. Number two: most probably you wouldn't have been asked to make this press conference a second time in a matter of four or five days unless it was blown out of any reasonable proportion and a political dimension was artificially added into this.
Question: It is the State Department, Sir, that says it. Not us.
Mayor Olmert: I didn't say that you said it, but let's suppose that the State Department...
Question: (Hebrew)
Mayor Olmert: We are not blaming the press. We are just using your good services to explain this plan in order to clarify any possible misunderstanding by anyone, including the State Department.
Prime Minister Netanyahu: I read two press reports that I accuse of being "sloppy". That is not all the press, but it is two press reports that are at best sloppy, if not more than that. They should at least know how to translate from Hebrew to English. I didn't give an official translation into English, but there are journalists here who have access to translators who know English reasonably well, and know Hebrew reasonably well. So the first thing is, yes, I think there was very sloppy reporting on it.
Secondly, I'm afraid to say that there has been a deliberate campaign to try to distort our decision, which is entirely municipal, entirely administrative, with no - I repeat - no political implications whatsoever, either in Jerusalem or outside of Jerusalem. I have taken the time to explain this to the Secretary of State. I've also sent clarifications to our respective embassies, especially in the European community, and everywhere else, because this is an instance where you have this conditioned reflex to accuse Israel of something in an area where it is perfectly not called for.
And yet, I must say, that for us - for Mayor Olmert, for myself, for the Cabinet ministers, and I think for the citizens of Israel - when you have such an artificial storm blow up minutes after somebody gave the order to start pushing this stuff, and this catches, people say, "Wait a minute, wait a minute. Is this the fair court of public opinion that we're talking about? How could anyone interpret any of these decisions as political decisions? They are not." It's destructive of the peace process that anyone would allow themselves to be taken in, frankly, by this kind of nonsense.
Question: Prime Minister, it is Secretary Albright who has defined this step as political. Is she under the same definition you've just used of people being sloppy?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: I said that I was puzzled by the American response, and I took the pains and the time to explain to the Americans that if they were basing their information on sloppy or contentious press reports, then they can get first-hand information by examining what the report actually says and what I actually said, as opposed to receiving second-hand or third-hand reports. I am sure that once they do, they will see that we are perfectly in line within our rights - within our rights as a state, within our rights in Jerusalem, within our rights under the Oslo Agreement.
Question: What do you see happening to the Jewish majority here in Jerusalem as a result of this process?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: We want to strengthen Jerusalem. We want to stop the flight, the departure of Jerusalemites. They are leaving - many of them - because there is no space for housing, because there isn't employment sufficient for their level of education. We are changing all of these things, and I think that's for the better. Whether it will change the demographics, of course, we'll have to see, but we are not going to control demographics. We're not going to make a quota. We're not going to say so many Jews should live here, so many non-Jews should live here. We'd never accept that kind of arrangement because we are a democratic country. What we're doing is something that is good for all the residents of Jerusalem - all of them - Arab and Jew alike. When you have a fast road and an Arab resident can travel from one side of the city to the other, its good for him just as for a Jewish resident who can travel that same distance.
Question: In terms of getting away from the rhetoric for a moment, what exactly did you intend to do in the eastern part of Jerusalem? I understand as well that the recommendations included a road which would ring the city. And Mr. Olmert, if I may ask you as well, you say that the residents on the western side of Jerusalem are also mistaken as to what exactly their status will be, so what will their status be?
Prime Minister Netanyahu: The ring-road touches right on the municipal boundary. It's an indispensable road, I would say, for streamlining the traffic. We have a problem for the Jewish residents of the northern communities and the southern communities, and for the Arab residents of the northern communities and the southern communities, and indeed for the Arabs of Ramallah and the Arabs of Bethlehem. If they now want to travel north/south, they have to go through the center of the city. They get immediately clogged and they clog up the city. The ring-road will allow all this road traffic to by-pass the great blocks inside Jerusalem and to simply move more south and so its good for everyone - for Jewish and Arabs residents of the city and indeed for the Palestinian communities north and south of Jerusalem. It's a very, very important road.
Mayor Olmert: We have started a comprehensive plan for the rehabilitation of the east part of Jerusalem in order to improve the quality of life of the Arab residents of east Jerusalem. The volume of this plan is in excess of over 500 million shekels. We started it last year. I said many times, I think you will remember, "I don't always agree with the Prime Minister and sometimes I even criticize him, but if I can say something which will be honest and sincere, no government in the last 31 years, since the reunification of Jerusalem, invested more in the quality of life of the Arab residents of east Jerusalem than the government of Benjamin Netanyahu. No government invested more than him in this."
Now, it's not enough. We want more. This is part of the strategic plan to improve the quality of life, the quality of infrastructure, everything. But this government has done more than all the governments since 1967 in doing precisely this, and this is part of the strategic approach of this government for which they deserve a lot of credit. I may disagree sometimes with this government, but I think that honesty requires that I will put this on their credit.
The fact that Jews living west of Jerusalem are not happy with certain aspects of this program only shows that the opposition to this plan is not as a result of some political approach - as it is being interpreted by some outsiders - but rather because of all kinds of internal problems, which are natural, which are routine, but which has nothing to do with the political interpretation that was given to this plan.
There is a proposition to include certain territories which are not part of the city limits today in the west side, not in the east side. To what extent will be determined by a professional committee that will be appointed by the Minister of the Interior. It will be brought again to the approval of the Cabinet. This is in order to allow more space for housing projects, of which we don't have enough in Jerusalem today. If we want to build 140,000 new units in Jerusalem in the next 25 years, we have to have the space for it. Jerusalem is the largest city in Israel, but at the same time it has constraints which no other city has. We have historic parts, we have archeological parts, we have valleys, we have mountains. It's difficult. That's precisely the reason why we want to include uninhabited areas.