The position of the Sephardic religious party Shas is clear with regard to any plan to make concessions to the Palestinian Authority, or anyone else, on the status of Jerusalem, said party chairman MK Eli Yishai.
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor, Yishai told reporters Sunday in the capital that if Prime Minister Ehud Olmert “returns from the U.S. with a new government position calling for concessions in Jerusalem, the Shas position on the matter is clear.”
Yishai’s comment is viewed as a veiled threat to Olmert that Shas will pull out of the coalition government if Jerusalem is put on the negotiating table. Vice Prime Minister Chaim Ramon, a close associate of the prime minister, has proposed a plan to give up half of Jerusalem as part of a peace agreement with the Arabs.