Shas Weasels out of Saving Jerusalem Pledge

In this picture of the sheleg (snow) in Israel Shas Party chairman Minister Eli Yeshai is on his way to yesterday's Jerusalem conference. if Yeshai looks a bit like a weasel--that's only because his party is acting like one.

With one sentence yesterday, Yeshai acknowledged that the negotiations on splitting Jerusalem have begun AND his party was backing off the supposedly pledge that Shas would leave the government if talks on Jerusalem began.

However, this decision has apparently been changed. Speaking before a Conference of Presidents audience in Jerusalem, Shas Party chairman Minister Eli Yeshai said, "If negotiations on Jerusalem continue, Shas will immediately leave the government." The phrase "if negotiations begin" has apparently been replaced by "if negotiations continue.

Shas spokesman Ro'i Lachmanovitch of course blamed it all on the media he told Arutz-7 i

"Minister Yeshai did not say that there are talks, as some reporters imply. He said that if the talks show progress - and that is very different. I say again: Shas will quit if talks begin regarding Jerusalem, or if progress is made in the diplomatic talks."

"Thems" weasel words if I ever head them.

The worst part of it all is that the Shas party is run by a Rabbi former Chief Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef and a council of Torah Sages. If you cannot trust them to keep their word about protecting Jerusalem....who can you trust?

I guess no one-- because according to the PA, Olmert is full of cow chips when he claims that Jerusalem is being saved till the end.

Senior PA leaders, on the other hand, said that Jerusalem was most definitely discussed. They said that it could not be otherwise, as the various issues of the negotiations are inseparable and cannot be discussed independently of each other.

A "senior PA official in Ramallah" was recently quoted as bragging that "major progress" had been made in the talks regarding Jerusalem: "Today we can say that Israel is agreeable to withdraw from nearly all the Arab neighborhoods and villages in Jerusalem. Israel is willing to re-divide Jerusalem, and this is a positive development."

In any event, the PA is not resting on its laurels. Top PA negotiator Saeb Erekat now says that the PA wants even more than just the Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem. According to Erekat, the entirely Jewish Jerusalem neighborhoods of Gilo, Har Homa, and Ramot are "settlements in every sense," and must be given over to the PA. In addition, Erekat said that the PA also demands the city of Maaleh Adumim and the Givat Ze'ev local council, east and north of the capital, respectively.

I guess former Chief Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef is gunning for a new title; The Rabbi who allowed Jerusalem to be divided.