Statement by Press Secretary Fitzwater on the President's Meeting With Mayor Teddy Kollek of Jerusalem

The President expressed his personal admiration for Mayor Kollek. The President believes Jews and non-Jews in Jerusalem ought to act in a manner that does not threaten the city's comity or in any way prejudice prospects for the peace process. As recent events in the Christian quarter have demonstrated, the real question is not an abstract one of the rights of Jews and others but rather how these rights are implemented. The longstanding opposition of the United States to settlement activity in the territories occupied by Israel in 1967 is well known. So, too, is the position of the United States supporting a united Jerusalem whose final status is determined by negotiations.