Tabhboub's successor won't be free to work in East Jerusalem

Israel has started moves to prevent the Palestinian government from naming a new minister of Islamic and religious affairs in Jerusalem, to succeed the late minister, Sheikh Hassan Tahboub, who died last month.

Israeli sources said government legal advisor Elyakim Rubinstein has been studying the possibility of a new Waqf Minister to be appointed by the Palestinian government and if he can resume his duties at his office in Al Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem. Rubinstein claimed that such a move by the Palestinian government contradicts the interim agreements between Israel and the Palestinian government.

The sources said that during the late Tahboub's tenure, the matter was very sensitive to the Israeli government, which found it difficult to interfere because "Tahboub was in fact operating out of his own office as head of the Islamic Supreme Council in Jerusalem before he became a minister in the PNA." But, now, as Palestinian President Arafat is holding consultations to reshuffle his Cabinet and appoint a new minister of religious affairs, the trend in Israel is to make it clear to President Arafat that a Palestinian government Cabinet minister won't be allowed to operate out of East Jerusalem.