We say: Jerusalem has throughout history been the focal point of our collective yearning and our collective identity as Jews. The Jewish return to the Old City and its holy sites after 1967 was the fulfillment of this yearning. No one can deny or undermine the Jewish connection to Jerusalem. Jerusalem is and will forever be the capital of Israel.

At the same time, to assert that Israel should be forbidden from negotiating over Jerusalem is tantamount to calling for Israel to live forever by the sword, since a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is impossible without addressing the very real issues that surround Jerusalem. The price for keeping every inch of Jerusalem will be the loss of the opportunity for a two-state solution that will guarantee Israel's security and viability as a Jewish, democratic state. This is too high a price for Israel to pay, especially when other reasonable options exist such as a shared Jerusalem that serves as a capital for two states.

They say: Jerusalem is the eternal, undivided capital of Israel. It cannot ever again be divided.

We say: Contemporary Jerusalem is an "undivided" city only in slogans. On the ground, it is a visibly divided city. It is a city where one-third of the population is Palestinian, in addition to large Palestinian urban areas lying just beyond the municipal border. It is a city where the patterns of life reflect two distinct populations - Israelis and Palestinians - living separate and rarely overlapping existences. It is a city that has deep political, historical, economic, and cultural significance to Palestinians, and deep religious meaning not only for Jews, but also for Christians and Muslims everywhere.

Moreover, it is a city whose boundaries have no historical or religious meaning: many have forgotten that after 1967, Israel annexed large areas of land, including a number of Arab towns and villages. There is nothing sacred about these borders, either to Israel or to Jews. Most of the proposed solutions for Jerusalem's future would put these Arab neighborhoods under Palestinian control, while Jewish neighborhoods would remain under Israeli control. These arrangements would make Israel's capital a more Jewish city and would allow Israel to shed the burden of ruling over Palestinians who live in what Israel today calls Jerusalem. It is misleading to suggest that such proposals would limit Jewish access to our holy sites.

They say: Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and only Israel. It cannot also be the capital of another state. Seeking recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state will undermine Israel's claim to the city.

We say: The emergence of a Palestinian capital in Arab areas of and adjacent to Jerusalem does not undermine Israel's claim to Jerusalem as its capital. Rather, it could clear the way - at long last - for international recognition of Jewish Jerusalem as Israel's eternal capital. For the sake of Israel's security and stability, a formula must be found to share Jerusalem between Israelis and Palestinians, and between Jews, Muslims, and Christians. Pragmatic, creative solutions exist to satisfy competing claims to Jerusalem and its holy sites; what is needed is the leadership, courage, and goodwill to explore them.

They say: Jerusalem belongs not just to Israel but to the entire Jewish people. Israel cannot negotiate the future of Jerusalem without the approval of Jews everywhere.

We say: Symbolically and metaphysically, Jews throughout the world feel ownership over Jerusalem, the subject of yearning for generations of Diaspora Jews. This reality cannot be changed. But the physical Jerusalem is under Israeli rule and the democratically elected government of Israel is sovereign and empowered to negotiate over the future of the city. Jews who are not Israeli citizens are free to advise, cajole, support or protest, but the final decision belongs to Israelis and their elected officials.

They say: Arab claims to Jerusalem as flimsy. The Quran does not even mention the city, and in any case, Muslims have Mecca and Medina, while Jews only have Jerusalem. And in contrast to the Arab governments, which denied Jews access to the city and damaged our holy sites, Israel has been respectful of Christian and Muslim sites and has permitted access to them. Therefore, Jews have a more valid legitimate right to Jerusalem than either Muslim of Christian Arabs.

We say: Jerusalem is the third holiest place to Islam. Muslims, not Jews or Christians, determine what is holy to them, and Muslims have believed in the city's sanctity for many generations, long before it became the geographic focal point of the Arab-Israeli conflict. While we should not forget the desecration and destruction of Jewish holy sites under Jordanian rule before 1967, we should seek policies that offer a better future to Jerusalem, not policies that focus on settling the scores of past quarrels. Peaceful coexistence in the city of peace will be achieved only when all sides recognize and respect the legitimacy of each other's religious beliefs and traditions.