The Palestinians can have East Jerusalem as their capital if they sign a peace accord with Israel that its citizens approve in a referendum, Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben Ami said in an interview to appear Saturday in Die Welt newspaper.
In the extensive interview appearing after Ben Ami held talks in Berlin on Thursday with German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, he was asked why Israel does not give up the essentially Arab-inhabited East Jerusalem.
He replied that the decisive question is how one defines East Jerusalem, saying that it includes 11 large Jewish neighborhoods with some 200,000 Jewish residents.
But he added that the Clinton peace plan provides for a linkage between population and nationality in Jerusalem, which the minister says he believes satisfies the legitimate national and religious needs of both parties.
"But only with a signed (peace) agreement will the Palestinians have a capital city in East Jerusalem," Ben Ami is quoted as saying, adding that the accord should be approved by the Israeli people in a referendum.
"People should have the right to say if they are for or against an accord through a referendum," Ben Ami said, describing the prospect of a peace deal as a political "earthquake" for the Israeli nation.
"When we have an agreement, that will mean very difficult decisions for the Israelis. There will be an earthquake the likes of which the state of Israel has not yet experienced," Ben Ami told the German daily.
Asked how the current government could pass an accord through the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, where it no longer has a majority, the minister said he was "absolutely certain" that if there was an accord, "even the current parliament would approve it."
"The deputies of the Knesset must let the accord through so that it can be put to the people for their approval," Ben Ami said.
Asked whether the peace agreement will divide the Israeli nation even deeper than now, he replied: "Naturally, one can already see that.
"The right-wing are demonstrating against (Prime Minister Ehud) Barak and myself, public opinion is splitting. But that is hardly anything so far -- JERUSALEM (AFP)
