Netanyahu hits back at Cameron’s East Jerusalem comments

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hit back at British Prime Minister Cameron who criticized conditions in East Jerusalem.

“My friend David Cameron, who is undoubtedly a friend of Israel, seems to have forgotten some basic facts about Jerusalem,” Netanyahu says. “Only Israeli sovereignty prevents the Islamic State and Hamas from igniting the holy sites, as they do throughout the Middle East. Only Israeli sovereignty over the city’s Arab residents promises roads, clinics, places of employment and all other means they would not benefit from their brethren throughout the Middle East. Only Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem preserves the rule of law for everyone, something that did not exist in Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Libya, and large parts of the Arab world, including the Palestinian Authority and the Gaza Strip. Only Israeli sovereignty ensures all this and it is important for friends in Europe and to remember this simple fact.”

Cameron on Wednesday called Israeli construction in East Jerusalem “genuinely shocking” during a discussion at the British Parliament, even as he insisted that he was a “great friend of Israel” and defined Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

“I am well known for being a strong friend of Israel, but I have to say the first time I visited Jerusalem and had a proper tour around that wonderful city and saw what had happened with the effective encirclement of East Jerusalem, occupied East Jerusalem, it is genuinely shocking,” Cameron said during a weekly question-answer session.