The Palestinian Chronicles: Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has told Israeli officials that they must partition Jerusalem if they really want peace.

“No Israeli government since 1967 has done even a smidgen of what was needed in order to unify the city in practical terms. That is a tragedy that is going to lead us, for want of another choice, to making inevitable political concessions,” Olmert said on Sunday, The Associated Press reported.

Olmert made the unprecedented statement as Israel commemorated the 45th anniversary of the capture of East al-Quds.

Israel occupied and then annexed the West Bank and East Jerusalem (al-Quds) in the Six-Day War of 1967, but the move has never been recognized by the international community.

Speaking on Sunday evening from a site of that war, Olmert’s successor, Benjamin Netanyahu, said Jerusalem will not be partitioned.

“Israel without Jerusalem is like a body without a heart. And our heart will never be divided again,” he declared. Read more