Israeli PM 'not impressed' by Muslim leaders' Jerusalem statements
'Many countries would follow US President's lead and recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital'
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday he was "not impressed" by Muslim leaders statements on Jerusalem after they urged the world to recognise the city s eastern sector as the capital of Palestine.
"We are not impressed by all these statements," Netanyahu said in a speech, saying he believed many countries would follow US President Donald Trump s lead and recognise Jerusalem as Israel s capital.
His comments came after an emergency summit of the world s main pan-Islamic body, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), on Trump s move last week.
"The Palestinians would do better by recognising reality and acting in favour of peace and not extremism," Netanyahu said.
"They should recognise another fact concerning Jerusalem: It is not only the capital of Israel, but we also maintain respect in Jerusalem for the freedom of worship for all religions, and we are the ones in the Middle East who do this like no one else."
With the Islamic world mired in division, the summit in Istanbul fell well short of agreeing any concrete sanction against Israel or the United States.
But their final statement declared "East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine" and invited "all countries to recognise the State of Palestine and East Jerusalem as its occupied capital.
Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Wednesday recognized East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine after the controversial move of the United States to move its embassy in Jerusalem and declare it Israel’s capital.
The declaration also called on the world to recognize East Jerusalem as the occupied capital of Palestinian state, condemning the U.S. administration s "unlawful" decision on the status of Jerusalem. The eighth point of the final communiqué declares “East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine and invite all countries to recognize the State of Palestine and East Jerusalem as its occupied capital”.
Representatives of the 57 Muslim-majority states, including Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi attended the OIC summit in the Turkish capital to denounce the US move.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosted the OIC summit and called on Muslim world to recognize Al Quds (Jerusalem) as Palestine capital. He branded Israel as an occupying and terrorist state, saying, “Only Israel, which occupies Jerusalem, supported the U.S. unlawful decision. We thank all the countries who did not accept this illegitimate decision."
