Interior Minister: Government will not accept indefensible 1967 border

Sa'ar says Likud will not compromise on giving away Jerusalem; "The Likud’s path was and remains right,” Sa’ar says.

By LAHAV HARKOV
Gideon Sa'ar at the President's residence 370 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
Gideon Sa'ar at the President's residence 370
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
The Likud will not negotiate based on 1967 borders or give away any of Jerusalem, Interior Minister Gideon Sa’ar promised at a pre-Rosh Hashana event in Tel Aviv with party activists Thursday night.
“We must, at all times, maintain our judgement and our values. The Likud’s path was and remains right,” Sa’ar stated.
Although it is in Israel’s interests to enter peace talks, it must do so differently than it did in the past, the interior minister explained to the hundreds of activists attending the event, as well as Energy and Water Minister Silvan Shalom, MK Ofir Akunis, deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Deputy Transportation Minister Tzipi Hotovely and MK Haim Katz.
“The Palestinians refused to talk to us for years because we will not continue at the point where Olmert left off,” he said.
“Our government will not return to ’67 lines, even with land swaps. The goal of that demand is for Israel to have indefensible borders. Jerusalem will remain united and will never be split. That is the way of the Likud; no other way will bring peace.”
Sa’ar thanked activists for “supporting [him] at the time of the libel,” in reference to sexual harassment allegations against him.
“You strengthened me. You touched me with your support,” Sa’ar said. “I was flooded with love and caring.”
Earlier this year, police closed a criminal investigation of sexual harassment allegations Sa’ar due to a lack of evidence.
A letter to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu accusing the interior minister of having an inappropriate relationship with a female employee was proven by police to be a forgery, and a probe into whether the allegations were true showed no evidence of improper behavior.