Dividing the indivisible

Good thing I am not one to hold my breath otherwise I would die from asphyxiation while waiting for Shas and a couple of MK’s from the Pensioners Party of Israel to withdraw from the Kadima coalition government. Why would I be holding my breath? Well, both parties have publicly stated to withdraw from the Kadima coalition if status talks on the question of dividing Jerusalem occurred with the Palestinian Authority.

The Jerusalem Post is reporting these talks are currently underway in “secret”.

A senior PA official in Ramallah told the Jerusalem Post on Saturday that the Palestinian negotiating team headed by former PA prime minister Ahmed Qurei had been holding secret talks with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and other government officials in the past few weeks. A spokesperson from Livni's office said that he was "not allowed to respond to anything going on in the [negotiating] room."

"The main progress has been achieved during the secret talks, particularly on the issue of Jerusalem. Today we can say that Israel is prepared to withdraw from almost all the Arab neighborhoods and villages in Jerusalem. Israel is prepared to redivide Jerusalem and this is a positive development," the Ramallah official said. "The negotiations are moving too slowly," he said. "There are still too many difficulties, although one can say that some progress has been achieved."

Non-coalition members of the Israeli Knesset have been calling for Shas and Pensioner’s MK’s to make good on their word. (Jerusalem Post)

Politicians on the Right called upon Shas to leave the government immediately on Sunday after The Jerusalem Post revealed that secret talks were taking place with the Palestinians in which Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni had made concessions on Jerusalem.
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"The cat is out of the bag," National Religious Party chairman Zevulun Orlev said. "The fact that the Olmert government is not telling the truth about the negotiations with the Palestinians has been revealed. Shas will no longer be able to say they didn't know. Even if the prime minister isn't telling them the truth, they can thank The Jerusalem Post for revealing it to them. I hope Shas keeps its promise and leaves the government that is dividing Jerusalem."

Today the Jerusalem Post is reporting Shas is waiting for confirmation from the Prime Minister’s office that discussions with the Palestinian Authority has in fact been taking place on the question of Jerusalem, but even better, Shas has just pushed their red line in the sand further south.

Yishai will meet Olmert when the prime minister returns from Germany and will try to find out whether Livni "is the conductor and is acting on her own volition or whether she is being directed from above", Atias told Army Radio. "We cannot disregard what is happening. We cannot bury our heads in the sand." On Monday Yishai indicated that his party's days in the government were numbered, due to Post's story that the Palestinian and Israeli negotiating teams were conducting secret talks on the future of Jerusalem.

Yishai told reporters who attended his faction's weekly meeting that he would speak about the story in Sunday's paper with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. He had not spoken to either one by press time and the Olmert associates he did reach downplayed the report. "I will check the story and if it's true, Shas will leave the government," Yishai told the Post.

Yishai also issued a new threat that any diplomatic progress on any issue while Kassams fall on Sderot could lead to the party's departure from the coalition. Yishai escalated his warning beyond previous threats, which focused solely on Jerusalem. But Yishai's threat to leave over the Post story was seen as more serious, because it applied to negotiations that have already taken place, while the new threat deals with potential future talks.

Yishai wrote a letter to Cabinet Secretary Ovad Yehezkel requesting that all decisions about what Israel should negotiate be made in the forum of seven ministers that met regularly during the Second Lebanon War. He postponed a visit to Jerusalem's controversial Har Homa neighborhood until Thursday, when he will be joined by MKs from the right wing National Union-National Religious Party.

Sources in Shas said the Post story added to what they said was already tremendous pressure on the party to leave the coalition sooner rather than later. A Shas MK complained privately that he felt increasingly uncomfortable with the party remaining in a government that was conducting negotiations that he believed would leave Israel "naked" without key strategic assets. An official close to Olmert expressed confidence that Shas would remain in the coalition. The official vowed to do everything possible to keep the party satisfied.

For those who do not understand the ins and outs of Israel political parties. Shas is a religious party which is often been accused of being eminently bribable. So when a close official to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert expresses confidence Shas would remain in the coalition - it can be construed as Kadima will meet any financial demand Shas makes.

But dividing Jerusalem is a tricky thing for any religious Jew to bend their mind around. Jerusalem was a gift given not just to the current generation of Jews living but to all future generation of Jews yet to come. And who has the right to barter away the birthright from those who are not yet evem born?