Netanyahu Refuses to Include Al-Quds in “Framework Deal”: Haaretz

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told Likud cabinet ministers and other Israeli officials that he would not accept any reference to al-Quds in the framework agreement drafted by US Secretary of State John

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told Likud cabinet ministers and other Israeli officials that he would not accept any reference to al-Quds (Jerusalem) in the framework agreement drafted by US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Israeli daily, Haaretz, quoted senior officials in the Zionist entity as saying that Netanyahu stressed he “would not agree to a document that mentions, even in a general way, the establishment of a Palestinian capital anywhere in al-Quds.”

“Netanyahu made it clear he would insist on this, even at the cost of the failure of the talks on the framework agreement,” the daily said.

It also quoted the official as saying that nearly all the talks on al-Quds were one-on-one between Netanyahu and Kerry. He said that Netanyahu was more nuanced and less rigid in his talks with Kerry than in his forceful statements to Likud ministers.

An Israeli source who was briefed on the talks with the Americans said Netanyahu “only tried to flatten and thin out the reference to Jerusalem” but did not completely object to mentioning the issue in the framework agreement.

An Israeli official said the US officials have considered referring to a Palestinian capital in “greater al-Quds,” which would allow the Palestinians to it meant East al-Quds, while the Israelis could say it referred to “Abu Dis” and “al-Azariya.”

The Associated Press reported recently that a US suggestion that the document refer to “Palestinian aspirations” to establish a capital in al-Quds was rejected by Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas.

A senior Palestinian source told AP that Abbas had demanded a clear and unequivocal reference to the Palestinian capital in East al-Quds, out of concern that a more general reference would be interpreted as Palestinian willingness to establish their capital in one of the city's outlying suburbs.