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Lapid: East Jerusalem Must Stay Israeli
(New York Times) Jodi Rudoren - Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid, a popular television host with no political experience, stunned Israel in January by making his new Yesh Atid party the second largest in the Knesset. In an hour-long conversation, Lapid said that Israel should not change its policy on Israeli settlements in the West Bank in order to revive the stalemated peace process, and that Jerusalem should not serve as the capital of a future Palestinian state. He also questioned whether Palestinians truly wanted a state. He said he had found Netanyahu "more willing" and "more prepared than people tend to think" to make peace with the Palestinians. Indeed, there was little daylight between the two men's positions. Lapid said he would not stop the "natural expansion" of settlements in the West Bank. He also said east Jerusalem must stay Israeli. "Jerusalem is the capital of the Israeli state."