Israeli Envoy Reuven Azar EXCL | 'Jerusalem Only Israel's Capital; Never Threatened Muslim Shrines' - video Dailymotion

Asianet News English

In this EXCLUSIVE interview by Asianet News, Israeli Ambassador to India Reuven Azar explains Jerusalem’s historical and religious significance, addressing global criticism of the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 2017. Ambassador Azar asserts that Jerusalem has only ever been the capital of Israel and emphasizes Israel’s commitment to religious freedom while rejecting accusations about threats to Muslim holy sites. He calls for confronting radicals who deny Jewish history in Jerusalem and stresses that wider recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital will contribute to peace, not instability. &nbsp;

Transcript

00:00Jerusalem, this is one place which is definitely close to people from all religions,

00:06whether it's Judaism, whether it's Christianity or whether it's Islam.

00:09The US recognized Jerusalem as the Israel's capital in 2017

00:13and of course it drew a lot of condemnation also from across the globe.

00:18Do you think the situation could have been avoided

00:20in order to not hurt the sensitivities of people from these religious backgrounds?

00:24Well, Jerusalem has never been the capital of any state

00:30except the state of Israel and the Kingdom of Israel.

00:35In any time in history, Jerusalem wasn't the capital of any Arab state or any Muslim state.

00:42And the sensitivity in Jerusalem doesn't derive from the fact

00:46that Israel doesn't respect the other religions.

00:48On the contrary, since Jerusalem was taken back by Israel,

00:53all religions are free to exercise in Jerusalem.

00:56The problem is with those radicals that do not accept Jewish history in Jerusalem,

01:04that are trying to erase Jewish history from Jerusalem.

01:07So the solution is not to surrender to the radicals in order not to ignite their fury.

01:18The solution is to do the right thing, to confront the radicals

01:24and to support countries like Israel that support religious tolerance,

01:29that are ready to share the most sacred shrines with other religions.

01:36You know, under the slogan that Israel is trying to destroy Al-Aqsa Mosque,

01:41many riots and many massacres have happened in the last hundred years.

01:45All of them were a lie.

01:47Israel never threatened the Muslim shrines in Jerusalem.

01:52On the contrary, we acted actively to preserve them and protect them.

01:57And therefore, more countries should join the United States in recognizing Israel.

02:02There is a trend of more countries doing that.

02:05And as much as more countries do that,

02:07it will contribute to peace and not to instability.

02:10Right.

Israeli Envoy Reuven Azar EXCL | 'Jerusalem Only Israel's Capital; Never Threatened Muslim Shrines'

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