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.
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