Submitted by Sergey Kadinsky, May 15, 2007 12:07

In his call for territorial concessions, Hillel Halkin fails to answer the true problem, illegal immigration. Many of the Arab construction workers living in Jerusalem came illegally and ended up staying. If their neighborhoods were to be severed from Israel proper, they would simply cross the line, following their jobs. The solution is to enforce the law, by cracking down on illegal labor, and restricting construction jobs to citizens. Another solution is to build affordable housing. Throughout Jerusalem, half-empty luxury developments provide a false vision of prosperity. Many of their owners do not live in Israel full-time. Halkin concludes his op-ed with a bold call on Israel to relinquish the Temple Mount, writing that it is "felt more strongly by religious Muslims than by religious Jews." A few lines later, Halkin suddenly turns Orthodox by recalling the rabbinic prohibition of treading on the Holy of Holies. How convenient that Halkin ignores ongoing Islamic desecration of the site, which includes mosque expansion on archeologically sensitive areas. In most countries, illegal immigrants are swiftly turned back, but for Halkin and the Israeli political leadership, it is their backs that are turned. The most effective and lasting solution to the demographic problem is enforcement of the law. For Israel, the status of Jerusalem should never be negotiated. It is more than a national capital; it is the holiest city for Jews, reunited through a six day miracle in 1967. May it always be remembered.

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