Parts of eastern Jerusalem could be the capital of a future Palestinian state, Ehud Barak told Al-Jazeera.
“Our basic position is that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel but that we can find a formula under which certain neighborhoods, heavily populated Arab neighborhoods, could become in a peace agreement part of the Palestinian capital, and it will of course include all of the neighboring villages around Jerusalem,” the defense minister told the Arab news channel Wednesday.
Barak’s appearance on the news channel’s English edition violates Israel’s boycott of the Qatar-based network due to recent problematic coverage of Israel. President Shimon Peres appeared on the network’s Arabic channel this week.
Barak rejected the right of return for Palestinian refugees, but said humanitarian issues could be resolved.
He also told Al-Jazeera that he expected Israel’s security fence to serve as the border with a future Palestinian state but there was leeway to change parts of its route.
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