Kollek Cites a Letter From Bush

Jerusalem’s Mayor Teddy Kollek said Wednesday that President Bush has written to him promising that the United States supports a united Jerusalem.

Jerusalem “must never again be a divided city,” Bush wrote in the March 13 letter distributed at a news conference here.

Last week, Bush made a statement apparently lumping East Jerusalem, which Israel regards as its sovereign territory, with the West Bank, which is under Israeli military occupation.

Asked at a news conference at the Israeli Embassy whether he believed Bush’s letter canceled the President’s earlier statement, Kollek said: “That is my strong impression.”

Bush, however, said in his letter: “It is also our view that the final status of this most special of cities should be decided by negotiation. . . . There is thus no intention on our part to focus now on the final status of Jerusalem.”