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Barak Urged to Declare U.S. Ambassador "Persona Non Grata"
Israeli legislator Uzi Landau Sunday called on Prime Minister Ehud Barak to declare U.S. Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk "persona non grata" following the envoy's controversial remarks about "sharing Jerusalem."
In an interview with Israel Radio, Landau, from the right-wing Likud party, said that Indyk's recent remarks on the issue of Jerusalem were just "out of his line," and it will be a proper response by Barak to declare the ambassador no more being welcome in the Jewish state.
Receiving an honorary doctorate at Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem last Thursday, Indyk, who returned to the region to serve his second term as U.S. ambassador to Israel in January, said: "There is no other solution (on Jerusalem) but to share the holy city."
"It is not, and cannot be, the exclusive preserve of one religion, and the solution cannot come from one side challenging or denying another side's beliefs. Here too, mutual respect is the foundation for any agreement," he added.
The remarks touched on the most sensitive nerve in the current peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. Israel claimed the holy city as its "eternal and undivided capital," while the Palestinians want Arab East Jerusalem, which Israel occupied in the 1967 Mideast war, as capital of their future state.
The peace summit between Barak, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and U.S. President Bill Clinton at Camp David in July collapsed mainly over the issue.
U.S. embassy in Israel late Thursday clarified Indyk's comments by saying "Our policy (on Jerusalem) has not changed. Jerusalem is holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims."
"We believe that the future of Jerusalem should be negotiated between the parties, and Ambassador Indyk was making the obvious point that tolerance and coexistence will be required by all for there to be a genuine and lasting peace," embassy spokesman Larry Schwartz said.
However, Landau obviously didn't think so. He said on Sunday that what Barak must do now is to behave like leaders of all other sovereignty countries in the world.
Otherwise, Landau threatened, the incident will further prove that Barak agrees with Indyk's remarks and wants to share the city of Jerusalem with the Palestinians. It breached the prime minister's election pledges that he will never divide Jerusalem, Landau said.
It is widely believed that the real target Landau aimed at was not the U.S. ambassador but Barak himself, as even Landau understands that Israel, which depends on U.S. financial and military aid every year, will never dare to humiliate U.S. envoy.
The Likud is against compromises made to the Palestinians by Barak at Camp David and is currently trying to oust the left-wing prime minister from office in an early election.
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