Israel Matzav

32 new homes approved in Jerusalem

The City of Jerusalem approved 32 new homes in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Pisgat Zev on Tuesday. Pisgat Zev is across the 1949 armistice lines but well within the Jerusalem city limits. It is a Jewish neighborhood.

Kobi Kahalon, chairman of the building and planning committee, had postponed a hearing on the building plan set for last week, so that it would not coincide with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s visit to the White House.

Yosef “Pepe” Alalo, head of the Meretz faction on the Jerusalem City Council, said on Monday that the delay showed the municipality understands the delicate nature of the issue of construction in east Jerusalem, even if it disregards the concerns.

“The fact that they put it off for a week while Bibi was in Washington shows that they know it’s a sensitive issue. Everyone knows it’s a sensitive issue, and if we all know it is so sensitive, than what difference will it make waiting a week?” the councilman asked.

Alalo added that he has “no idea why [Jerusalem Mayor] Nir Barkat does what he does.”

Obviously, Prime Minister Netanyahu either had Obama's consent for this step or decided he didn't need it - there's no way this would have been done otherwise. I'm hoping Netanyahu decided he didn't need Obama's consent. It's a very small number of apartments anyway.

By the way, for those of you who can read Hebrew you can see that the "For Sale or Rent" sign at the top of this post is for Arabs only. Guess where the picture was taken. Yes, Pisgat Zev.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:14 PM