Embarrassed? He should be bursting with pride!
Haaretz reports that Prime Minister Netanyahu is 'embarrassed' by word that came while he is in the US of another 1,300 Jewish apartments being approved in the Ramot and Har Homa neighborhoods of Jerusalem. Ramot has been a Jewish suburb since the late 1970's, and Har Homa has been a Jewish suburb since the late 1990's. If new houses being built in these neighborhoods embarrasses Netanyahu, he ought to resign. True supporters of Israel feel great pride at Jewish housing going up in Jerusalem. New embarrassment threatened to cast a cloud over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's latest U.S. trip Monday as Israeli authorities approved construction of over 1,000 Jewish homes beyond the Green Line in Jerusalem.Israel Radio reported on Monday night that State Department spokesman PJ Crowley said that the State Department was 'deeply disappointed' by the announcement, but that at least one member of the cabinet said that Crowley could stick his objections where the sun doesn't shine. That cabinet member said (sorry, I didn't catch who it was), "we never said we wouldn't build in Jerusalem and we said all along that we would build in Jerusalem. These have been Jewish neighborhoods for many years." The plans for the apartments were actually approved two years ago.
Ruth Yosef, who chairs the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee, published over the weekend details of a program that will allow 930 housing units to be built in the Har Homa C area, with another 48 units in Har Homa B.
An additional 320 units are planned for Ramot, also beyond the Green Line.
The news coincided with a trip to the United States by Netanyahu, which included a meeting with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden. It was during a trip by Biden to Israel earlier in the year that a diplomatic row erupted between the allies over Israeli plans for 1,600 new Jewish homes in another East Jerusalem neighborhood, Ramat Shlomo.
Labels: 1949 armistice lines, Binyamin Netanyahu, Har Homa, Joe Biden, Ramot
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:05 AM
3 Comments:
Israel's Prime Minister should be proud and say its none of America's business where Jews build and live in Jerusalem! May more construction continue apace!
Netanyahu is the Israeli version of a RINO - LINO? Likud In Name Only. Mushy conservatives never get it right. Sharon was like that, playing to the right, but doing things on the left. Witness the difference with Begin and Shamir who stood on principle.
I hope Netanyahu can take some quality time to find his lost principles.
He is under intense pressure from the US and EU but nevertheless needs to project strength in more than just speeches to Jews.
Post a Comment
<< Home