The coalition crisis over Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's secret negotiations on Jerusalem with former Palestinian Authority prime minister Ahmed Qurei ended on Thursday when Shas chairman Eli Yishai received reassurances from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Livni that the capital's fate was not on the table. Livni told Yishai there was no secret channel of meetings with Qurei, denying statements to the contrary by senior PA officials to The Jerusalem Post. Olmert promised the Shas leader that Jerusalem would not be discussed until the end of the negotiations with the Palestinians and that he would make sure Livni abided by that vow.
"We are satisfied for now, but if secret negotiations begin tomorrow, we are leaving," a source close to Yishai said following his meetings with Olmert and Livni. "He believes the prime minister and the foreign minister. If he didn't, we would leave the coalition."
Olmert also promised Yishai that construction would continue in Jewish neighborhoods in east Jerusalem. He reportedly said that he would contact the authorities charged with planning and building in the Construction and Housing Ministry and issue new directives.