Netanyahu reaffirms 'right to build' in Jerusalem

[azurnoir]

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asserted Israel's "right to build" in Jerusalem, following a row with the US over plans for new homes in the city.

"Jerusalem is not a settlement, it's our capital," he said in Washington.

The Palestinian Authority is furious at Israel's insistence on building on occupied territory.

It sees it as a serious stumbling block to the resumption of talks, which have been stalled for more than a year.

Call to Abbas

In his speech to a convention of the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), Mr Netanyahu said that "the Jewish people were building Jerusalem 3,000 years ago and the Jewish people are building it today".

But he said construction "in no way precludes the possibility of a two-state solution".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8582190