Israeli Jews, Muslims, and Christians live side-by-side throughout Israel; whether in Tel Aviv, the Negev, or Jerusalem.  According the the High Court of Israel, one shall not be denied a construction permit based on race, creed, gender, religion, or national identity.   As such, Jews, Muslims, and Christian alike can purchase land in all parts of the city of Jerusalem.  Just as Arab residents live in Western Jerusalem, Jews are allowed to live in Eastern Jerusalem.

To learn more about the Shepherd Hotel and it’s current renovation and construction, read “Behind the Headlines: Background Information from the Municipality of Jerusalem Regarding the Shepherd Hotel Building“

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman addressed the issue of the Shepherd Hotel building at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting:

PM Netanyahu: “…united Jerusalem is the capital of the Jewish people and of the State of Israel.  Our sovereignty over it is cannot be challenged; this means that residents of Jerusalem may purchase apartments in all parts of the city…hundreds of apartments in Jewish neighborhoods and in the western part of the city have been purchased by – or rented to – Arab residents, and we did not interfere.  This says that there is no ban on Arabs buying apartments in the western part of the city and there is no ban on Jews buying or building apartments in the eastern part of the city.”

FM Lieberman: “Thousands of Arab families buy homes in Jerusalem in the Neve Yaakov and French Hill neighborhoods…It would be very strange– and I am trying to be subtle – if the State of Israel decides to discriminate against Jews, especially in Jerusalem, and does not allow them to buy and to build throughout Jerusalem.”

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Today, 25 June, marks three years since Gilad Shalit was captured by Hamas.  On this occasion, a rally was held in New York City’s Times Square at which Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom called for the world to act for the resolution of this humanitarian issue.  You can see some of the footage of the event in the video above.

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On June 17th, David Saranga (@DavidSaranga), Consul for Media and Public Affairs at the Consulate General of Israel in New York (@IsraelConsulate), addressed the 140 Character Conference (#140conf) about the use of twitter in Public Diplomacy.

Twitter “allows us to reach people and segments of society that usually we don’t reach,” @DavidSaranga explained at the conference. “There is a lot of room to include dialogue between people.”

To read more about Saranga’s speech at the #140conf, click here.

At the conference, @DavidSaranga announced the launch of twt4peace, a dialogue on twitter encouraging the discussion of topics that concern everyone: environment, minority rights, and education.

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In his first interview with the foreign media since he was chosen to head Israel’s next government, the Likud chair told The Washington Post: “I think there is broad agreement inside Israel and outside that the Palestinians should have the ability to govern their lives but not to threaten ours.”

Netanyahu further said he would continue peace talks with the Palestinians, while at the same time advancing “the economic development that has begun” in the Palestinian Authority. Prime Minister-designate added: “I personally intend to take charge of a government committee that will regularly address the needs of the Palestinian economy in the West Bank.

You can read Netanyahu’s interview here.

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The State of Israel today released 224 Palestinian prisoners, thereby implementing a government decision made on 07 December. The release of prisoners is meant as a measure of building confidence in the moderate government of President Mahmoud Abbas and in the process of negotiations he has undertaken with Israel. Israel’s actions also send the message that the pursuit of terrorism and violence cannot achieve anything. Today’s prisoner release comes in honor of the Eid al-Adha holiday and in deference to the high priority given to this issue within Palestinian society. The Jerusalem Post has further information on these developments.

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