"You see, dear Mr. Vice President, the District Planning Committee is a statutory authority, which takes its decisions completely independently. I myself, as the Prime Minister, don’t even know what is on their agenda. It just happened that exactly today they took the decision to build 1600 new housing units. There was no intention of affronting you. The same is also true for my right hand. It, too, is a statutory authority, which takes its own independent decisions. Just now it took the decision to slap your face, right in the middle of the festive ceremony…"
An Exact Quotation
"There is no such thing as a good timing for building in East Jerusalem," said Minister Benny Begin. "It does not really matter at what time we announce plans for a new construction. Whenever we do announce it, there will be an immediate outcry all over the world and Israel will be blamed for destroying peace."
So far, quite right.
