The Israeli government is warning it will resist any US effort to impose a peace settlement to resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict. There has been recent speculation President Obama will push forward his own peace plan if Israel continues to expand West Bank settlements and reject final-status talks. On Tuesday, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman issued a warning to the US and repeated Israel’s claim to all of Jerusalem. Lieberman spoke as Israel marked its 62nd independence day.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman: “Any attempt to force a solution on the parties without establishing a foundation of mutual trust will only deepen the conflict. Peace cannot be enforced; it must be built. It is our right to reaffirm on the day of our rededication of our national independence, that the city, north and south, east and west, is entirely under Israel’s sovereignty, our eternal capital city. It cannot be divided and will never again be divided, neither directly nor indirectly.”