Netanyahu defends East Jerusalem housing

JERUSALEM, July 19 (UPI) -- Israel will not accept any suggestions that a housing project in East Jerusalem be halted, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday.

Speaking at his weekly Cabinet meeting, Netanyahu responded negatively to a demand from the U.S. State Department that a controversial housing development by American millionaire Irving Moskowitz in predominantly Palestinian Arab East Jerusalem be stopped, the Israel newspaper Haaretz reported.

Netanyahu asserted Jerusalem is the "united capital of Israel."

"Imagine what would happen if someone were to suggest Jews could not live or purchase (property) in certain neighborhoods in London, New York, Paris or Rome," he said. "The international community would certainly raise protest."

Likewise, he said, "We cannot accept such a ruling on East Jerusalem."

Chief Palestinian peace negotiator Saeb Erekat, however, denounced Netanyahu's statements, saying the prime minister knows a lasting peace deal can't be reached unless East Jerusalem is made the Palestinian capital, Haaretz reported.