US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday Israel and the Palestinians know they need to find a solution that turns Jerusalem into a “symbol of peace and cooperation” rather than a flashpoint.
In an interview with Israeli and Palestinian television journalists a day after direct peace talks resumed, Clinton said both sides also know that the daily lives of Palestinians must improve more in order to boost the negotiations.
When her Israeli interviewer asked whether Clinton still supported Jerusalem as Israel’s undivided capital, a point he recalled her making during her failed presidential campaign two years ago, she did not answer directly.
“You should believe that I am committed to a safe and secure Israel and that I believe a two-state solution that realizes the aspirations of the Palestinian people is in the best interests of Israel,” the chief US diplomat said.
“Jerusalem is a contested emotional issue for both Israelis and Palestinians,” Clinton told journalists from Israel’s Channel 2 and Palestine TV, who had been invited by Washington to conduct a joint interview.
“I want to support what is the outcome that the parties can agree to,” she said at the State Department.
“And I think both parties know that they’re going to have to engage on this issue and come to an understanding and a resolution so that Jerusalem becomes not a flashpoint but the symbol of peace and cooperation,” Clinton added.
In reply to a question from her Palestinian interviewer, Clinton said the United States saw the importance of Israel allowing greater Palestinian freedom of movement, including to sites of worship in Jerusalem.
She said Tony Blair, the representative of the diplomatic Quartet on the Middle East, will work with both sides to “try to ease as many of those problems as possible while the negotiations are going.”
Clinton added: “I think the political negotiations need to be matched with changes on the ground, confidence building measures and interactions between Israelis and Palestinians.”