Politicians infuriated over secret talks on J'lem's fate

Jerusalem Post
By GIL HOFFMAN, TALIA DEKEL
Feb 10, 2008

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1202657414830&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Reactions over secret talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority as reported by the Jerusalem Post began to surface among politicians on Sunday. Saturday's report cited a top Ramallah official as saying that the Palestinian negotiating team headed by former PA prime minister Ahmed Qurei had been holding undisclosed negotiations with Livni and other government officials in the past few weeks.

"The cat is out of the bag," MK Zevulun Orlev (NU/NRP) told the Post. "The fact that [Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert's government is not telling the truth over the negotiations with the Palestinians has been revealed.

"Shas will no longer be able to say they didn't know. Even if the prime minister isn't telling them the truth, they can thank the Jerusalem Post for revealing it to them. I hope Shas keeps its promise and leaves the government that is dividing Jerusalem," Orlev said.

Jerusalem Municipality opposition leader Nir Barkat called on Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni to reveal any agreements reached during negotiations with the Palestinians following a report on Sunday in the Jerusalem Post which revealed that secret Israeli-PA talks have resulted in progress over the issue of Jerusalem.