Israeli president admits inequality between Jews, Arabs in Jerusalem, urges steps to close gaps

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Wednesday acknowledged there is inequality between Jews and Arabs living in Jerusalem, urging measures to close the gaps.

"There's no sense to dispute that there is inequality in Jerusalem," Rivlin told a group of Jews and Arabs who live in neighboring villages in east Jerusalem at an event marking the launch of a book depicting the co-existence, according to a statement from his office.

Rivlin admitted that Jews received better treatment from authorities compared to Arabs in the city.

He also said that Jerusalem must undergo an "open heart surgery" and take on a "complex and painful journey to heal the wounds and close the gaps between its Jewish and Arab residents."

"We were not doomed to live together, but were destined to live together," Rivlin added.

Israel took over east Jerusalem territories previously held by Jordan amid the 1967 Mideast War, where about 300,000 Palestinians live.

Although the Palestinians are Israeli residents and have ID cards, they cannot vote or be elected in national elections and they usually suffer from poor infrastructure and services from the state.

Tensions in the city mounted last year amid quarrels over the Temple Mount, holy to both Jews and Muslims; the abduction and killing of three Israeli teens in June 2014 and the following killing of a 15-year-old Palestinian from east Jerusalem by Israeli extremists.

Rivlin, who comes from a traditional right-wing oriented background and voiced in the past his objection to a two-state solution, reiterates Israel's duty to give full rights to Arabs and Palestinians living on its territory and advocates equality among Jews and Arabs.

He has rebuked the previous government for nationalist initiatives he deemed as discriminatory. Enditem