Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has offered the Western Wall and Jerusalem’s Jewish Quarter to remain under Israel’s control as part of a peace deal, according to an Arabic newspaper.
Abbas made the offer as part of a written proposal to U.S. Mideast negotiator George Mitchell, the London-based Al-Hayat reported. However, chief P.A. negotiator Saeb Erekat said July 4 during an interview with Israel Radio that Abbas did not make such an offer.
The proposal reportedly included forming an independent Palestinian state on land along the 1967 borders with land swaps of about 2.3 percent in order to encompass some West Bank settlement blocs. The rest of the Old City would be the capital of the Palestinian state but open to all faiths, according to the report. — jta