Israel Matzav

Netanyahu reassures Biden there won't be any building in 'east' Jerusalem?

Prime Minister Netanyahu's office has released a statement regarding the Ramat Shlomo announcement. Curiously, it hit Twitter during Biden's speech.

(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday (Wednesday), 10 March 2010, summoned Interior Minister Eli Yishai and expressed his displeasure at the timing of the announcement of another stage in the planning process of a Jerusalem building project.

In light of the ongoing disagreement between Israel and the US on building in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Netanyahu said there was no need to advance the planning process this week and instructed Interior Minister Yishai to adopt procedures to prevent such an incident from recurring.

Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke to US Vice President Joe Biden and expressed his regret over the unfortunate timing. The Prime Minister informed the Vice President that this specific project had moved through various planning stages over several years. The final approval process will in all likelihood take more than a year and the beginning of actual construction would likely take several years.

While it's true that it will take a long time for the permits to be approved, I really don't like those last two sentences. We've seen stories before about Netanyahu instituting a de facto building freeze in 'east' Jerusalem. Has he reassured Biden that the de facto building freeze in 'east' Jerusalem remains in effect? Anyone have Ariel Attias' phone number?

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:37 PM