Israel is preparing to fortify its self-proclaimed capital Jerusalem amid a show of Arab solidarity with the beleaguered Palestinian administration. Internal Security Minister Uzi Landau, who submitted the proposals to the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said the plan aims to cut off Palestinians in the West Bank from the city by “defensive obstacles,” as he put it, but denied earlier reports of a wall being erected to separate Jewish and Arab neighborhoods. Sharon approved the plan, called “Enveloping Jerusalem,” and said the suburbs have occupied East Jerusalem, quote, “should be included in Greater Jerusalem,” but only at the security level, thus ruling out an annexation. The Palestinians see Jerusalem as the capital of their future independent state.