Vice Premier Chaim Ramon expressed his support Sunday for Israel to hand over half of the capital, Jerusalem, to the Palestinian Authority as part of a final status agreement.

“It is in Israel’s interest to transfer Arab neighborhoods in east Jerusalem to the Palestinians,” the Kadima party member told ministers at the weekly Sunday cabinet meeting, “so the Jewish neighborhoods will gain international recognition.”

The PA has long demanded that Israel hand over Jerusalem so that it might become the capital of a separate PA state.