Jerusalem opposition leader and mayoral candidate Nir Barkat wrote a letter to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday, warning him that his decision to freeze Jewish construction in neighborhoods of the city was weakening the city and eroding Israeli sovereignty.  Olmert’s decision contradicts an earlier letter in which he told Barkat that Jerusalem was not negotiable, Barkat said.

Barkat warned that even discussing the option of giving parts of Jerusalem away would damage the city.  “Every minor utterance on the topic of Jerusalem brings us down a slippery slope,” he said.  He called on the government to continue building in the city “and to strengthen it as the capital of Israel and the diaspora.”