'It's our capital.' PM at AIPAC convention
Photo: Amos Ben-Gershom, GPO
Riyadh slams PM's AIPAC speech on Jerusalem
Saudi official says Netanyahu's pledge during AIPAC speech to continue east Jerusalem construction 'arrogant and defiant,' adding that remarks 'cast doubt on peace process'
A senior Saudi official condemned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's latest comments on the continuation of Jewish construction in east Jerusalem, which he said jeopardizes "the whole Peace process," the official SPA news agency reported on Wednesday.
"The Kingdom awaits clarification from the Mideast Quartet over the Israeli arrogance and defiance of the international will as well as it violation of all the international laws and legislations," a Saudi official was quoted by SPA as saying.
Netanyahu's Speech
Yitzhak Benhorin
Speaking at AIPAC conference, Netanyahu stresses Jewish connection to Israel's capital, saying building there 'in no way precludes possibility of two-state solution'. PM urges Abbas to resume peace talks
Speaking before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in Washington this week, Netanyahu declared that "Jerusalem is not a settlement."
"The Jewish people were building Jerusalem 3,000 years ago and the Jewish people are building Jerusalem today. Jerusalem is not a settlement. It's our capital," Netanyahu said.
The Saudi official said Netanyahu's remarks "cast doubts on the peace process as a whole and on the seriousness of ongoing international efforts to start negotiations."
The Israeli leader's remarks, he added, "blatantly confiscated Palestinian, Arab and Islamic rights in Jerusalem without any regard to Palestinian, Arab and Islamic rights...and intense international efforts to resume the peace talks. This happened after he announced the construction of more illegal settlements during the latest US Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Israel."
An announcement by Netanyahu's government on its plans to build 1,600 homes for Jews in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood was widely criticized by the international community and sparked a row with the US, Jerusalem's closets ally.
Israel captured east Jerusalem during the 1967 war and annexed it shortly after in a move not recognized by the international community. The Palestinians want east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.
"Saudi Arabia has always called upon the international community to bear the responsibility of dealing with the Israeli one-sided defiance that usually opposes the peace process," the official said.
