News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Palestinian Authority sources quoted in Yediot Acharonot said Thursday that negotiators had agreed to push off a final decision on the status of Jerusalem for five years.  In the meantime, they said, Israel and the PA will reach a temporary agreement allowing the PA to take municipal control of certain Arab neighborhoods in the capital city.

The decision to postpone a final decision was reportedly made recently in negotiations between Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and senior PA negotiator Ahmed Qurei (Abu Ala).  Israel has not confirmed the report.

The PA insists that it be given all areas of Jerusalem that were under Jordanian control between 1948 and 1967, including the Old City and the Temple Mount, as the capital of a new PA state.  The issue has caused tension within the coalition, and the Shas party has threatened to leave the government if Israeli negotiators agree to split the city.