State Department press statement:

Sun, 24 May 2009 12:11:48 -0500.
Israel: Comments on Jerusalem (Taken Question)
Bureau of Public Affairs

Office of the Spokesman

Washington, DC

Question Taken at the May 21 Daily Press Briefing

May 24, 2009

Question: What is the U.S. response to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s comments that all of Jerusalem will remain under Israeli sovereignty and “will never again be partitioned and divided”?

Answer: Jerusalem is a final status issue. Israel and the Palestinians have agreed to resolve its status during negotiations. We will support their efforts to reach agreements on all final status issues.

An Israeli diplomat adds: "I'm shocked... Barak is going to Washington to 'convince the administration' that in exchange for removing illegal settlements, the US will acquiesce on Israel's 'demand' to allow for 'natural growth.' You would think that despite being arrogantly dumb on US affairs, they would at least pretend to understand the Obama zeitgeist and at a minimum play the game. But no, they are dumber than meets the eye."

Posted by Laura at May 24, 2009 02:29 PM