Sen. Feinstein Fuels Support for Dividing Jerusalem

Democratic U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, whose roots are Jewish and has a large Jewish following, has come to the aid of U.S. President Barack Obama and has drafted a letter encouraging U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to pressure Israel against “the expansion of settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.”
The use of the terms, instead of Judea and Samaria and the united city of Jerusalem, reflects a strongly pro-Palestinian Authority stand that has been challenged by a majority of senators, many of whom who face a tough re-election campaign in this November’s vote.
 In a previous letter to constituents last month, Senator Feinstein wrote, “I have grave concerns about the expansion of Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, and I believe that this issue is a major stumbling block to a peace agreement. In my view, settlement activity should be halted until an agreement is reached.” 
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has pointed out that Jewish neighborhoods in the nation's capital city are not “settlements.” There are approximately 300,000 Jews living on land that was restored to Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War, but the Obama administration has focused mainly on areas adjacent to predominantly Arab neighborhoods.