A high-level donor conference hosted by the German government has been held in Berlin. More than 40 countries pledged US$ 240 million to projects that include building prisons, communications networks, and courthouses in the Palestinian Authority controlled parts of the West Bank. International Middle East envoy Tony Blair said that improving Palestinian security was “fundamental to the two-state solution," with Israel and a Palestinian state living side by side. US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice said that "security and the rule of law represent the foundations of any successful, responsible state." The bulk of the funding was expected to come from the US$ 7.4 billion promised to help Palestinians at a donors' conference in Paris last year.
Meanwhile, French president Nicolas Sarkozy reiterated that Jerusalem ought to become a shared capital of Israelis and Palestinians. Speaking on Tuesday in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, he said Jerusalem had a history or plurality. "It's a holy city for three faiths: Jews, Christians and Muslims. Can Jerusalem be for one side and not the other? I don't think so." Sarkozy also said the separation barrier Israel is building to keep out suicide bombers will not bring it any closer to peace. The visit to the West Bank was Sarkozy's only meeting with Palestinian leaders during his three-day visit to the region. The visit marked Israel's 60th anniversary and was aimed primarily at cementing the improved relations between France and Israel after years of frosty ties.
