Negotiations toward an Accord on Jerusalem: Declarations vs. Actions

Instead of serving to catalyze political agreement, the Annapolis Summit in November 2007 has become a launching pad for new unilateral Israeli actions in East Jerusalem: plans to construct thousands of housing units, police prevention of dozens of Palestinian civil gatherings, continuous demolishing of houses, unlicensed archeological excavations and more. Every aspect of these actions casts a heavy shadow not only on the sincerity of the negotiations, but also on the chances of their success. The failure of negotiations over Jerusalem will mean failure in reaching a final status agreement between the two sides.