President Rivlin: Israel will not Block PA Elections in Eastern Jerusalem

Jerusalem, 18 March, 2021 (TPS) -- President Reuven Rivlin told his European hosts Thursday that Israel has yet to receive a formal request from the Palestinian Authority to place ballots in eastern Jerusalem for the PA parliamentary elections in May, but Israel is expected to approve it.

In response, Hussein A-Sheikh, the PA’s minister in charge of civilian affairs, said on Twitter that the PA has officially contacted the Israeli government regarding the participation of the residents of eastern Jerusalem, both as candidates and as voters, “and we have the official documents to prove it.”

A-Sheikh added that “what the President of the State of Israel says is not true because we received an Israeli response to our demand, according to which Israel will not respond to our request before the Knesset elections” which will take place next week.

During his visit to Europe, Rivlin noted that “Israel has allowed the elections in eastern Jerusalem in the past and many have chosen not to exercise their right, but if the Palestinians decide to hold the elections, Israel will not deprive them of their right.”

At the same time, the president said that “the Palestinians are taking a big risk in democratic elections with the participation of Hamas, which is also considered a terrorist organization in the world and which could take over Palestinian institutions.”

In recent days, senior official Fatah Jibril Rajoub said that Israel was putting pressure on PA head Mahmoud Abbas not to hold the elections, while Hamas operatives recently told TPS that Israel was making a wave of arrests and threatening potential Hamas candidates not to run in the elections.