Jerusalem: Mayor For All In City Of Challenges?

Jerusalem's Mayor is tenacious, determined, but most of all dismissive of any claims that recent violence that has flared in the city has fatally undermined his ability to represent of all its residents.

Cars being crashed into civilians, stabbings, a deadly attack in a synagogue - these painful events have shaken his Israeli constituents.

The resulting police crackdown, that has seen surveillance balloons, road blocks and checkpoints installed across East Jerusalem, has left his city's Arab residents claiming they are being collectively punished.

Resentment, anger and fear seem to be the only thing Jerusalem's different populations hold in common.

To an outsider, what Mayor Nir Barkat insists is the "unified capital of Israel", feels bitterly divided.

"You must understand when terror attacks are happening in the city of Jerusalem, life is more important than the quality of life" he says.

"The first phase of what the police does is securing and monitoring and making sure we can differentiate between terrorists, that we will hunt, and the vast majority of the Arab population that today, unfortunately, like the Jewish population, is suffering from these terror attacks".

The goal, he says, of the policing effort is to "fight extremists from all sides, and return the peace and quiet".

"There's no reason for over policing, God forbid, for focusing on people that are innocent, people that want to live their life quietly, that was never the goal - that will never be the goal," he adds.

:: Read the full interview transcript here

He laughs off the suggestion he is not able to visit parts of the city without an armed entourage, or that he's lost the confidence of Arab community leaders.

"In the last two weeks I had falafel in Tsur Bakhair and went to A-Tur to speak to local leadership."

But he acknowledges that divisive issues remain.

He says: "I took a city that has challenges. One is catching up with neglect, and I admit it, but I can demonstrate that we're catching up on neglect.

"As a matter of fact, you can see that when we work with local community leaders in East Jerusalem they accept the fact that there's a big change in the investments we're making.

"Both in absolute and relative numbers we can demonstrate that. We're building roads, classrooms, we're investing in schools, we're investing in community councils, we're increasing our investments in cleanliness all over the city, including all the Arab neighbourhoods of East Jerusalem, and I feel very confident looking anyone in the eye and saying I am committed, all of the children are my children."

That claim of responsibility and representation for all, according to Palestinians, is another way of saying that, while the vast majority of East Jerusalem's residents are not Israeli citizens, they will continue to be subject to its laws and control.

And when it comes to the question of whether the city could ever be a shared capital where Israel is a partner with a Palestinian State, rather than master over it, Mr Barkat's position is crystal clear:

"Open your eyes. ...With respect to Jerusalem, it will never work."