Arutz Sheva spoke with the Gen. Dir. of the Jerusalem and Heritage Ministry, Ron Yishai, about his ministry’s visit to the European Parliament to present the case that Jerusalem is Israeli according to international law.
“This is the first time Israel is expressing its clear position as pertains to the international law regarding Jerusalem and Israeli sovereignty regarding Jerusalem. We say to the Europeans for the first time in this forum: Israel is the legal sovereign in all parts of Jerusalem by international law.
“Sovereignty was given from the Turks after World War I to the League of Nations, which was the legal organ authorized to decide what to do with this sovereignty, and they gave it to the Jewish people. Israel, as representative of the Jewish people, received it from the League of Nations through the British Mandate, and this is how the title to this land passed from the Turks to the Jewish people - fully legal, and fully authorized by the League of Nations. That has been the situation until today.
Yishai described how these facts have been met with surprise in Europe, “because they never imagined that this was the situation.” From here, he explained, “It’s divided between those who want to know more about the truth and those who don’t care what’s right and what’s wrong, but only care that Israel is wrong.”
“We don’t deal with these people,” he said, referring to the latter group. “We deal with the majority who want to hear more about it.”