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Israel agreed to give up parts of Old City in 2000 peace negotiations with Palestinians

New documents reveal Ehud Barak's government was planning to give up control of key Muslim sites

June 19, 2023 15:19
GettyImages-156968302
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak (L), US President Bill Clinton (C), and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (R) pose for a photograph at Laurel Cabin the site where former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and former US President Jimmy Carter conducted peace talks in 1978, during the Middle East Peace Summit 11 July 2000 at Camp David, Maryland, the US presidential mountain top retreat. The peace talks are aimed at resolving the issues of the 52-year-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict including the status of Jerusalem, the borders and nature of a Palestinian state, and the future of Jewish settlers and Palestinian refugees. (ELECTRONIC IMAGE) AFP PHOTO/Stephen JAFFE (Photo credit should read STEPHEN JAFFE/AFP via Getty Images)
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(JNS) The Israeli government agreed to give up part of Israel's sovereignty in the Old City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount in December 2000, in an attempt to make peace with the Palestinians.

According to documents published for the first time by the Israel State Archives on Sunday, Israel agreed to relinquish its sovereignty over the area of ​​the mosques on the Temple Mount, Ynet reported.

Among the comments written in Hebrew in the margins of the Clinton administration proposal: "de facto division of sovereignty on the Temple Mount."

Israel demanded continued sovereignty over the Western Wall, the Western Wall tunnel, the Makhkame building overlooking the Temple Mount, the Siloam Tunnel (aka Hezekiah's Tunnel), the City of David and the Mount of Olives.