America is focused on Wikileaks, not the settlement freeze

Israeli Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer has said that the US Administration is not pushing Israel to freeze building in settlements because it is focusing its efforts on controlling the damage that has been caused by Wikileaks’ release of secret diplomatic documents. In an interview with Radio Israel, the Minister of Industry, Trade, and Labour said that, actually, the main issue is not the construction freeze in settlements but, rather, the core issues such as the borders and Jerusalem.

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Mr. Ben-Eliezer added that Jews assert that there is no relation between Islam and the Noble Sanctuary (Al-Haram Al-Quds Al-Sharif), while Muslims insist that there is no relation between Judaism and the Western/Wailing Wall.

He expressed his hope that the Palestinian leadership might eventually be headed by someone like former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, to be able to push the peace process forward.