Jerusalem, 14 March 1999
Cabinet Communique
(Communicated by the Cabinet Secretariat)
At the weekly Cabinet meeting today (Sunday), 14.3.99:
1. The government of Israel today re-affirmed its commitment to a united
Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty.
A. The Cabinet completely rejected the contents of the letter from the
German ambassador. The stance according to which Jerusalem constitutes a
"Corpus Separatum" is incorrect, both from the factual and the legal point
of view, and is completely unacceptable to Israel.
B. The Cabinet once more affirmed that united Jerusalem is the capital of
the Jewish People. This is anchored in the Basic Law: Jerusalem - the
Capital of Israel, which determines that "United Jerusalem is the capital
of Israel." Israel will not agree under any circumstances to the division
or internationalisation of Jerusalem, which will remain forever under the
exclusive sovereignty of Israel.
C. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon
will order Israeli missions in Europe and throughout the world to commence
an information campaign on this subject, which will include the
involvement of local Jewish communities and friends of Israel throughout
the world, in order to make the international community aware of our
rights over Jerusalem, and our stance according to which Jerusalem will
stay forever under Israeli sovereignty alone.
D. The government of Israel will continue to ensure freedom of religion,
worship and conscience in Jerusalem. Israel will take care to ensure the
continuation of the status quo in the holy places of all religions and
freedom of access to them, while respecting freedom for all faiths.
Prime Minister Netanyahu said that the information campaign decided on by
the government was all the more essential given the expected start in the
coming months of discussions on the permanent status agreement between
Israel and the Palestinians. The Prime Minister added that United Nations
Security Council Resolution 181 (the partition resolution) on which the
stance of the German ambassador in his letter is apparently based, became
null and void after it was rejected by the Arab side.
The Foreign Minister announced that he has invited all foreign ambassadors
in Israel to a diplomatic briefing to take place on Tuesday, at which the
Israeli stance on this subject will made clear.
2. In accordance with article 10 of the Council for Higher Education Law,
the Cabinet decided to approve the decision taken by the council to award
temporary and conditional recognition to the academic program of the
Insurance College.
A. The Cabinet decided to approve the proposal of the Tourism Minister on
the matter of upgrading existing hotels in the build-up to the millennium.
B. The cabinet approved the allocation of NIS 50 million in the course of
1999 to the project for the upgrading of existing hotels in the build-up
to the millenium.
C. The criteria for the allocation of these funds will be jointly decided
on by the Finance and Tourism Ministries. Upgrading of this kind will
bring about a situation whereby the number of hotel rooms will be more
proportionate to the demand expected in the year 2000. Upgrading of this
kind will prevent the use of hotels for other purposes, which reduces the
number of rooms available to tourists. The aid will be given to replenish
significant investments made to raise the rating of the hotel.
3. The Cabinet approved the draft law on taxation payments on elective
days (amendment) 1999.