Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Thursday strongly denounced a Palestinian Authority paper that denies any Jewish connection to the Western Wall, the iconic holy site and place of Jewish worship in the Old City of Jerusalem, describing the report as “reprehensible and scandalous.”
The episode appeared to signal a worsening atmosphere after a two-month hiatus in peace talks.
Netanyahu’s statement referred to a long article that appeared in Arabic on Monday on the Information Ministry Web site of the Western-backed Palestinian government, led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in the West Bank. Its publication was previously reported by the Jerusalem Post.
The Western Wall is a remnant of the retaining wall of a plateau revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, the site where their ancient temples once stood.
The plateau is also the third holiest site in Islam. Known to Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary, the compound now includes al-Aksa Mosque and the golden Dome of the Rock.
The Palestinian paper denying any Jewish historical connection with the site was written by Information Ministry official al-Mutawakel Taha.
In it, he stated that “the al-Buraq Wall is the western wall of al-Aksa, which the Zionist occupation falsely claims ownership of and calls the Wailing Wall or Kotel.”
Palestinian officials have often denied claims of Jewish heritage in Jerusalem, arguing that there is no evidence that the plateau was the site of ancient temples.
Netanyahu has insisted on continued Jewish building in the Jewish areas of East Jerusalem, like all Israeli governments since 1967, but has not spelled out his intentions regarding the future status of the city since taking office.
The unofficial competition for control of Jerusalem takes place stone by stone and house by house.
Taha’s paper appeared on the ministry’s Web site one day after the Israeli government approved a US$23 million five-year project to renovate and develop the Western Wall Plaza and its environs.
Netanyahu, in a statement issued by his office, said the Western Wall “has been the Jewish people’s most sacred place for almost 2,000 years, since the destruction of the Second Temple.”
The Palestinian Authority’s denial of a Jewish link “calls into serious question its intentions of reaching a peace agreement, the foundations of which are coexistence and mutual recognition,” Netanyahu said.
He called on the authority’s leaders to disavow the document. There was no immediate comment from Palestinian officials.
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