JERUSALEM
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Isaac Herzog have both agreed that Jerusalem will remain "unified" under Israeli sovereignty.
"Unified Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, despite the problems we are facing in completing the unification, but we will not step back," Netanyahu told members of the Israeli Knesset on Monday.
Netanyahu said that settlement building in East Jerusalem must continue if Israel is to keep the city under its control.
For his part, Herzog, the Zionist Union leader who heads the opposition bloc at the Knesset, told Netanyahu that his policies endanger Israel's hold on Jerusalem.
"Your policies might bring you political gains but they will endanger Jerusalem's unity," Herzog said, addressing Netanyahu at the Knesset session.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank during the 1967 Middle East War. It later annexed the holy city in 1980, claiming it as the capital of the self-proclaimed Jewish state in a move never recognized by the international community.
Palestinians want a state of their own in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, with East Jerusalem – currently occupied by Israel – as its capital.
On May 17, Israel celebrated Jerusalem Day, an annual holiday which commemorates the occupation by Israel of East Jerusalem.
