European Union foreign ministers called for making Jerusalem the capital of both Israel and a future Palestinian state as part of a negotiated peace plan. The statement marked a compromise after Israel objected to a Swedish proposal identifying East Jerusalem, which Israel seized in the 1967 war, as the Palestinian capital. Palestinians welcomed the final statement, but Israel said it was "nothing new." Is sharing Jerusalem, which Israel claims as its eternal capital, the key to jump-starting peace negotiations? (Watch a report about the European Union's suggestion of a shared Jerusalem)
Sharing Jerusalem is not a new idea: The Swedish proposal was obviously unacceptable to Israel, says Herb Keinon in The Jerusalem Post. If the future Palestinian state is to comprise the West Bank and Gaza, with East Jerusalem as its capital, "what is left to negotiate?" The watered-down version merely says genuine peace requires resolving Jerusalem's status, which is "something that has been said a million times."
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