United States administration officials have voiced harsh criticism over advertisements in favor of Israel's position on Jerusalem that appeared in the U.S. press with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's encouragement. The authors of the most recent such advertisements were president of the World Jewish Congress Ronald Lauder and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel. "All these advertisements are not a wise move," one senior American official told Haaretz.

In the advertisement, Wiesel said that for him as a Jew, "Jerusalem is above politics," and that "it is mentioned more than 600 times in Scripture - and not a single time in the Koran." Wiesel called to postpone discussion on Jerusalem until a later date, when there is an atmosphere of security allowing Israeli and Palestinian communities to find ways to live in peace.

The ongoing confrontation with the U.S. administration over construction in East Jerusalem was present in many of the comments made by senior Israeli officials during Independence Day.

Netanyahu himself said in an interview to ABC that freezing construction in the east of the city was an impossible demand, and refused to answer questions on the Israeli response to demands from Washington. Instead, he called on Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas to return to the negotiating table without preconditions.

Foreign Minister Lieberman, meanwhile, made Jerusalem the focal point of his speech in a festive reception for the diplomatic corps at the President's Residence in Jerusalem. President Shimon Peres spoke first, calling for progress in the diplomatic process. Lieberman, who took the podium immediately after Peres, made diametrically opposed statements in his speech, stressing that the Palestinian Authority is no partner for peace.

"Jerusalem is our eternal capital and will not be divided," Lieberman said. Many of the ambassadors in the audience left feeling stunned and confused, some of them told Haaretz. "The gap between Peres and Lieberman is inconceivable," one of them said. "We couldn't comprehend how Lieberman can say all that in front of all the international community delegates."

Speaking at the torch-lighting ceremony on Mount Herzl on Monday, Knesset speaker Reuven Rivlin said that there was "an attack on Jerusalem" and that Israel "will not apologize for the building of Jerusalem, our capital."

Meanwhile, Israel National News reported that thousands are preparing to protest in New York this Sunday against the Obama administration's "increasing hostility towards Israel." The event is scheduled to take place outside the Israeli Consulate on Sunday, April 25 at 1:00 p.m. EDT. A partial list of organizations who endorsed the demonstration is below.

Among the organizations who have officially endorsed the rally are:

AISH Center

Americans for a Safe Israel

Artists 4 Israel

Children of Jewish Holocaust Survivors

Christians and Jews United for Israel

Coalition for Israel

Crown Heights Women for the Security and Integrity of Israel

Dr. Joseph Frager, Jerusalem Reclamation Project

NY Assemblyman Dov Hikind

IsraelAlive

Israel Day Concert in the Park

Jewish Political Education Foundation

Dr. Michael Ledeen, Center for Defense of Democracies

Unity Coalition for Israel

Dr. Herbert London, The Hudson Institute

AMCHA, Coalition for Jewish Concerns

Stand With Us

Endowment for Middle East Truth

World Committee for the Land of Israel

Zionist Organization of America

Z Street