In a roundtable discussion, Hillel Frisch, Eytan Gilboa, Gershon Hacohen, Efraim Inbar, Eran Lerman, Max Singer, and Joshua Teitelbaum discuss the importance of keeping Israel’s capital unified, how that unity can be ensured, and how it can be securely maintained. According to Lerman:
The carving-up of Jerusalem . . . is impossible to implement, no matter how ardently some may wish for it to be done. It would constitute a disastrous retreat from basic Zionist verities and Jewish imperatives. It would tear apart Israeli society. It would reverse the remarkable achievements of nearly 50 years of Israel’s custodianship of the unified city—a custodianship not free of failures and blemishes and yet impressive in its outcome.
Jerusalem today is a city of nearly a million residents, a joy to behold, alive with active social and cultural life. [Dividing] it would ultimately do nothing but harm to the lives of most of the Arab Jerusalemites—who already know how much better they are doing in comparison with their brothers across the PA line. . . .
Therefore, Israeli policy must be directed quietly and confidently at perpetuating Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem, even if a proper [designation] of where the city [limits] end, and some unnecessary accretions begin, may be open to discussion.
Read more on BESA Center: http://besacenter.org/uncategorized/besa-center-associates-discuss-fighting-palestinian-terrorism-and-securing-jerusalem/