Member of Knesset Erel Margalit, who is running for the leadership of the Labor Party, said, Sunday, that in order to strengthen Jerusalem, a large part of the East Jerusalem villages annexed to its territory must be separated. Addressing his plans for his first 100 days as party leader, Margalit explained, "There are 28 villages near Jerusalem that are not really Jerusalem."
"The axis of French Hill, Mount Scopus, the Mount of Olives and inward - is the axis of what we see as Jerusalem," Margalit said, "and there as a leader of the Labor Party, there will be disagreement with the Palestinians about two or three neighborhoods that I do not agree to give up on regarding the level of sovereignty. There will be a more practical solution there."
"I am absolutely prepared that the Palestinians also have a certain approach to the Temple Mount," Margalit said. "But I will not give them sovereignty over a large part of the site."