WASHINGTON – The United States Tuesday noted an EU statement welcoming the idea of Jerusalem becoming the future capital of two states, saying the US view was that the parties should decide that in final status negotiations.
Israel and the Palestinians earlier Tuesday welcomed an EU statement that Jerusalem should be the capital of both the Jewish state and a future Palestinian state.
“We are aware of the EU statement, but our position on Jerusalem is clear and we believe that as a final status issue, this is best addressed inside a formal negotiation among the parties directly,” said State Department spokesman Philip Crowley.
The text adopted fell short of an earlier draft proposed by the Swedish EU presidency which infuriated Israel for stating outright that occupied east Jerusalem should become the Palestinian capital.
