At Campaign Stop, Netanyahu Admits Jerusalem Settlement Was Strategic
“It was a way of stopping Bethlehem from moving toward Jerusalem,” Mr. Netanyahu said of the construction. “This neighborhood, exactly because it stops the continuation of the Palestinians,” he added, “I saw the potential was really great.”
Mr. Netanyahu has long heralded Israel’s right to build anywhere in Jerusalem, but he generally says that his expansion of settlements — which most world leaders consider illegal — do not materially affect the map for a potential two-state solution to the conflict with the Palestinians. His acknowledgment that Har Homa was intended to disrupt Palestinian development between Bethlehem and Jerusalem — which the Palestinians see as their future capital — came as he sought to win back votes for his Likud Party and to take them from more conservative factions that oppose a Palestinian state.