Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted Thursday that all of Jerusalem will always remain under Israeli sovereignty, taking a hard line on a key Israeli-Palestinian peace issue just hours after his forces removed an unauthorized settlement outpost in the West Bank. The twin moves came a day after Netanyahu returned from talks in Washington, where President Barack Obama backed creation of a Palestinian state and urged an end to Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank, setting up a potential confrontation between Israel and the US. Netanyahu has refused to endorse Palestinian statehood, and his uncompromising statement about Jerusalem focused attention on another issue that could cause friction between Israel and Obama's administration. The US has long held that the future of Jerusalem must be decided in negotiations, but Netanyahu offered no flexibility. “United Jerusalem is Israel's capital,” Netanyahu said. “Jerusalem was always ours and will always be ours. It will never again be partitioned and divided.” Netanyahu was speaking at a ceremony marking 42 years since Israel captured east Jerusalem in 1967. Previous Israeli governments have indicated willingness to cede Arab neighborhoods to the Palestinians in the framework of peace. Netanyahu, who took office on March 31, has always rejected giving up control of any part of Jerusalem. Rafik Husseini, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, rejected Netanyahu's stand. He said the Palestinians have accepted a two-state solution based on east Jerusalem as the capital of their state.
