From Mort Klein's Thinking

Morton A. Klein, national president of the Zionist Organization of America, tells Ehud Olmert a thing or two about Jerusalem:-

...We agree that Israelis alone have the right and obligation to decide what Israel should do in life-and-death questions of national security and defense. In fact, we would strongly oppose anyone other than Israelis deciding Israel's future.

But this does not mean that Diaspora Jews cannot contribute by debate and criticism to the evolution of the decisions that Israel takes. On the contrary, the onus is upon those who disagree to explain why Diaspora Jews, on matters of vital importance to the future of Israel and the Jewish people, should suddenly be struck dumb.

The legitimacy and importance of Diaspora Jewish participation in Israeli debates is all the stronger when the subject is Jerusalem. Here we are not only talking of Israel's capital but about the central inheritance of all the Jewish people.

Jerusalem is our holiest city..."Next year in Jerusalem."...rituals refer to the historic old city with the Temple Mount in eastern Jerusalem -- precisely the areas that Palestinians are demanding that Israel give up -- not the modern suburbs of western Jerusalem.

...Any division of Jerusalem not only carves out part of the heart of the Jewish people but would also endanger Israel by introducing terrorists within rocket and rifle range of the western half of the city. Just as Sderot near Gaza has been subjected to years of incessant missile and mortar fire from territory handed over to the Palestinian Authority (PA), resulting in almost half its citizenry leaving for safety, the rest of Jerusalem could share the same fate if the eastern half of the city were given to PA control.

And, of course, if concessions are made over the Jerusalem's holy sites, one can only imagine -- after witnessing the torching and destruction of Joseph's Tomb and the Jericho synagogues once Israeli forces were withdrawn -- what fate would lie in store for Jewish sites once the PA obtained control.

Actually we do not even need to imagine: The Muslim waqf, which controls Jerusalem's Temple Mount, has undertaken renovations and construction programs that have already destroyed priceless Jewish antiquities on that site. Various PA officials over the years have also denied the Jewish religious and historical connection to the city...