Let construction continue, but be sensitive

I have repeatedly used this column to take the government to task over the way it conducted itself during the recent round of talks with the Palestinians. I have been critical of its refusal to truly scale back construction in Judea and Samaria in a way that would conducive to the peace process.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas may have had a point when he said that Israeli negotiators were trying to alter the demographic lay of the land throughout the talks. Although the Palestinians may be at fault for the eventual collapse of the peace process, this Israeli policy helped the things unravel. Both parties may not be genuinely interested in a two-state solution.

The Palestinians claim that unchecked construction could splinter their future state. But Abbas' rejectionism stems not from his anti-construction rhetoric but from his refusal to meet Israel's very basic, and very just, demands. He is also a rejectionist because he refused to finalize a peace deal when Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert were prime ministers.

The Palestinians have recently made things worse by leaving the U.S.-led talks and asking the U.N. Security Council to impose a solution. This would include a complete Israeli withdrawal and the stationing of international peacekeepers. He has also entertained the idea of convicting Israel in international tribunals for the crimes perpetrated by Hamas. Yes, the same Hamas whose plan to violently topple the Palestinian Authority was thwarted by Israel.

The Palestinians' claims don't carry as much weight when there is no peace process. Their stance is undermined every time Abbas refuses to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. Without talks between Ramallah and Jerusalem, the feuds over construction beyond the green line re-emerge.

Construction in Jerusalem is different. Jews were there before the Arabs and they were the first to turn it to a holy city, but Israel has never denied the fact that Jerusalem occupies a central role in Christianity and Islam.

Jews have trained their eyes on Jerusalem ever since the Second Temple was destroyed. When they descend on synagogues this Yom Kippur they will recite prayers that attest to this age-old yearning for a return to Zion. "Return in mercy to Jerusalem Your city and dwell therein," Jews say almost every day. This Jewish right of return cannot be denied by anyone at home, although Israel should be more sensitive to U.S. objections.

The city has been part and parcel of who we are for 3,000 years. "A city which dwells alone, a wall within her heart," Naomi Shemer wrote in her famous song Jerusalem of Gold.

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