JERUSALEM - Anyone who thinks Israel can absorb 240,000 Arab residents of the city and retain Jerusalem as a Jewish capital is mistaken, Vice Premier Shimon Peres told Jerusalem Day revelers on Sunday.
כותל מערבי ירושלים (צילום: אמיר פלג)
Peres made the comments as 20,000 marchers, and tens of thousands of onlookers, took part in a parade through central Jerusalem, as the capital began celebrations to mark the return of the Old City and the Western Wall to Israeli sovereignty during the Six Day War.
"Anyone who thinks that we must re-divide the city with borders and walls is equally mistaken," Peres said. "Without the Negev (desert), Galilee, and Jerusalem, there is no Israel."
Farmers donate to the poor
Former government minister (and prisoner of Zion) Natan Sharansky opened the festivities riding on an antique tractor, while farming communities distributed produce to participants.
Since Friday, farmers have donated 120 tons of produce to Jerusalem's poor.
President Moshe Katsav praised the farmers, saying, "they (have) showed their support for the city of Jerusalem and its residents."
Mayor Uri Lupolianski said the government's acceptance of a plan to attract young people to the capital proves, "There is no question the government understands the need to revive Jerusalem."
Vis-à-vis future plans, Lupolianski said he hopes he would be able to retire when his term of office expires in 2008.
"I hope that during the next three years, we will run the city so well… that I will be able to go home and rest," he said.
Not Tel Aviv
Former Jerusalem mayor Ehud Olmert said the capital's problem is not an overflow of visitors on Jewish holidays, but that the government doesn't budget enough for the city the rest of the year.
"Jerusalem will never be like Tel Aviv," Olmert said, "but if the government decides to allocate the city funds commensurate with its stated goal of luring young people, there is a real chance the center of town can be rehabilitated."
Tourism Minister Avraham Hirshenson said for the millionth time that schools that do not include Jerusalem on their list of annual school trips will not get ministry funding.
"Jerusalem Day should not be the only day of the year there are tourists and schoolchildren exploring the city," said Hirshenson.
