Joint Arab-Jewish list to run in Jerusalem local polls

JERUSALEM

A joint Arab-Jewish list is expected to run in Israel’s Jerusalem municipal polls for the first time since Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967, Israeli Radio reported on Wednesday

“The list was an initiative by Gershon Baskin, founder of the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information, and Aziz Abu Sarah, head of the Bereaved Israeli-Palestinian Families Forum,” it said

“The list includes men and women candidates, 50 percent of whom are Jews and the other half are Arab [Palestinians] from the eastern part of Jerusalem,” it added.

Nationwide elections for local authorities in Israel will take place in November.

The radio called the formation of the list a “historic step,” as the first time Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem take part in the city's municipal elections since the occupation of East Jerusalem after the Six-Day or Arab-Israeli War in 1967.

Jerusalem remains at the heart of the decades-long Middle East conflict, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem -- now occupied by Israel -- might eventually serve as capital of an independent Palestinian state.

In a move never recognized by the international community, Israel annexed the entire city in 1980, claiming it as its "eternal and undivided” capital.

International law continues to view the West Bank and East Jerusalem as "occupied territories" and considers all Jewish settlement construction there as illegal.

Last December, U.S. President Donald Trump drew widespread condemnation and protest from across the Arab and Muslim world when he announced his decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.