Netanyahu, Edelstein hit back at Obama
Prime Minister
Netanyahu and Knesset Speaker
Yuli Edelstein have both hit back at the
Obama administration's criticism of Israeli construction in 'east' Jerusalem. This is from the first link.
Netanyahu, at a ground-breaking ceremony for a new port in Ashdod, said
Israel would continue to build new ports, pave roads, lay rail road
tracks and “continue to build in our eternal capital.”
“I heard
the claim that our building in Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem makes
peace more distant, but it is the criticism itself that makes peace more
distant,” Netanyahu said of criticism that poured in following his
announcement of plans to develop 660 more units in Ramot Shlomo in the
northern part of the city and 400 in the southern neighborhood of Har
Homa.
This criticism, he said, is “detached from reality” and feeds false Palestinian hopes.
...
Netanyahu said the international community remains quiet when
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas “incites to the murder of
Jews in Jerusalem,” but strongly condemns Israel when it builds in
Jerusalem.
“I don't accept that double standard,” he said. “We
built in Jerusalem, we build in Jerusalem, and we will continue to build
in Jerusalem.”
Arutz Sheva adds (
quoting Netanyahu):
"The French build in Paris, the English build in London - that's the
same as Israel building in Jerusalem," he concluded. "We will continue
to build in Jerusalem and will continue to build here in Ashdod."
Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein also
slammed Obama.
"Building in Jerusalem is not something to be done under the table or under the cover of night," Edelstein told Arutz Sheva.
"It has been part of the policy of every Israeli government and
anyone who even thinks that in a peace agreement we will need to
evacuate (the Jerusalem neighborhoods) Gilo, Talpiot and Pisgat Ze'ev
apparently doesn't understand what they're talking about," added the MK.
...
The Knesset Chairman emphasized that currently there are more than
350,000 Jews living in Judea and Samaria, and "the overwhelming majority
of them are people of action who are dedicated to the state, and there
is no reason to discriminate between them and others."
"Just as the north and the south must be developed, and Jerusalem and
Tel Aviv - so too there is room for student villages and neighborhoods
in Samaria, Gush Etzion (in Judea) and Har Homa (in Jerusalem)," added
Edelstein.
Meanwhile, Israel's Justice Minister and chief
negotiator bottle washer, Tzipi Livni,
criticized her own government.
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, meanwhile, decried the move in an Israel
Radio interview, saying these types of steps will make it more difficult
for Israel to thwart Palestinian efforts in the UN Security Council .
Livni
said while she feels that Israel has the right to build in Jerusalem,
these announcements not only hurt Israel diplomatically, but also worsen
the volatile security situation in the capital.
Livni was apparently for building in Jerusalem before she was against it. But the problem is that
Israel is not actually building in Jerusalem (or in Judea and Samaria).
Indeed, many have argued that the solution to the current housing crisis in
Israel lies precisely in the development of Judea and Samaria, a region
which according to some estimates is over 90% unpopulated.
Instead, Netanyahu has until now imposed a covert freeze on Jewish
construction. The newest announcements still leave much room for doubt
as to whether they constitute a policy change, or are merely a case of
political maneuvering giving the upcoming Likud primaries. Many similar announcements in the past have not actually led to any physical construction.
And you thought the American government was weak?
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Binyamin Netanyahu, East Jerusalem, Har Homa, Jerusalem construction, Judea and Samaria construction, Middle East peace process, Ramat Shlomo, Tzipi Livni, Yuli Edelstein
State Department calls Jerusalem construction 'illegitimate,' maintains claim to being 'most pro-Israel administration evah'
From State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki's
Monday press briefing.
QUESTION: On Israel, could you talk about
Israel accelerating new settlement units that was just announced today,
and if you – we could just follow on last week. It just seems that
there’s a little bit of acrimony between the U.S. and Israel right now
surrounding the defense minister’s visit, Israel now with these
settlements and what’s going on.
MS. PSAKI: Well, we’ve seen – they’ve been reports. There
haven’t been an official announcement at this point in time. We’re
certainly deeply concerned by the reports. We are engaging at the
highest levels with the Israeli Government from our Embassy on the
ground to get --
QUESTION: Does that mean the President’s called?
MS. PSAKI: No. We’re – I said on the ground – from our Embassy
on the ground to get more information. And we continue to make our
position absolutely clear that we view settlement activity as
illegitimate and unequivocally oppose unilateral steps that prejudge the
future of Jerusalem. Israel’s leaders have said they would support a
pathway to a two-state solution, but moving forward with this type of
action would be incompatible with the pursuit of peace, and that is
certainly a message that we are conveying directly.
In terms of our relationship, the defense relationship, as you know,
remains as strong as ever and the ties between us are unshakable. There
are times when we disagree with actions of the Israeli Government,
including settlements, the issue of settlements, where we have deep
concerns about some of the steps the government is taking. We express
those, but it does not mean that we don’t have a strong and formidable
relationship that continues.
The areas in which Israel approved construction over the weekend -
Ramat Shlomo and Har Homa - are nowhere near any 'Palestinians' (okay, they're both near 'Palestinians,' but the areas in which the construction was approved are adjacent to already-existing Jewish housing).
The State Department is hung up on steps that 'prejudge the future of Jerusalem,' but through its opposition to construction in the city, it is prejudging the future of Jerusalem (and of the entire enterprise of a 'Palestinian state') by ensuring that the 'Palestinians' have no incentive to compromise on their zero sum demands. Israel has shown (Gaza disengagement) that it is willing to uproot 'settlements' (although it would need far stronger assurances that real peace is at hand than are currently on the horizon) for even a remote chance of peace. 'Settlements' are not an obstacle to peace. 'Settlements' are the only consequences that might have any hope on having any effect on the recalcitrance of the 'Palestinians.' by declaring 'settlements' 'illegitimate,' the United States ensures that the 'Palestinians' have NO incentive to compromise.
Additionally, the lack of construction has led to an impossible housing crisis in the city in which most construction is luxury construction that is being sold to foreign investors at prices that young couples can only dream about having the money to pay. A storage room with a window and a corner walled off as a bathroom can rent for nearly $1,000 per month in many neighborhoods in Jerusalem.
There's much more that's disturbing in this briefing and I suspect it's only going to get worse as there will be no consequences for Obama's behavior over the next two years and two months after November 4.
Labels: Har Homa, Jen Psaki, Jerusalem construction, Ramat Shlomo, State Department obsession with Israel
Israel 'endangering' possibility that Jerusalem will be the capital of the 'Palestinian' reichlet
Lady Ugliness, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, has called on Israel to '
take back' plans to build in the Jewish Jerusalem neighborhoods of Neve Yaakov, Pisgat Zev and Har Homa, claiming that such construction endangers the possibility of Jerusalem being the capital of 'Palestine.'
"These plans endanger the chances of turning Jerusalem into the capital
of two countries," claimed Ashton, referencing the US plan to establish
an Arab capital in Jerusalem. "I call on the government of Israel to weigh this step again, and take back its decision."
The Obama administration had already condemned the plans on Wednesday.
Ashton's disapproval over the idea of Jewish homes being built echoes condemnation from the US State Department
on Wednesday. Spokesperson Jen Psaki said "we oppose any unilateral
actions by either party that attempt to prejudge final status issues,
including the status of Jerusalem."
Israel did not agree to a building freeze anywhere in the run-up to the current 'talks.'
JPost adds:
Ashton, increasingly criticized by government officials for swiftly
condemning every building announcement beyond the 1967 lines but not
protesting similarly Palestinian incitement or violence, issued a
statement saying she was “deeply concerned” by the announcement.
“These
plans could put at risk the prospects of Jerusalem becoming the capital
of two states and, in particular, the territorial contiguity between
east Jerusalem and the southern West Bank,” she said.
“The EU and
the international community have repeatedly warned that any unilateral
action prejudging the final status of Jerusalem threatens the current
peace negotiations and, as a consequence, the two-state solution,” she
added. “Any such developments must be avoided at all costs.”
Despite
Ashton’s adoption of the Palestinian position that Jerusalem will be
the capital of a future Palestinian state, Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu has said repeatedly that he is opposed to dividing the
capital.
As I noted in an earlier post,
we have made ourselves susceptible to this kind of international pressure. This will continue until the Prime Minister's backbone is located.
Labels: Catherine Ashton, East Jerusalem, Har Homa, Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, Middle East peace process, Pisgat Zev
'Palestinians': 'No breakthrough'; Israelis: More building in 'east' Jerusalem?
'Palestinian' chief negotiator bottle washer Saeb Erekat whined to the media on Sunday that there was no '
breakthrough' in discussions with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Ramallah on Sunday.
US Secretary of State John Kerry made no breakthrough in talks on Sunday
with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on efforts to resume
Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, a senior Palestinian official
said.
"There is some progress but we can't say there's a
breakthrough," said Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat after Kerry
and Abbas ended their meeting.
In response to the 'Palestinians' refusal to compromise, Israel is going to move ahead with the construction of another 900 housing units in Jerusalem's Har Homa neighborhood.
According to the report, the [Jerusalem municipality's finance] committee is set to discuss paving streets
and adding needed infrastructure for the neighborhood which has been in
planning since 2011.
...
Likud chairman in the Jerusalem Municipality, Elisha Peleg praised
the decision to advance the plans. "Despite the visit by US Secretary of
State Kerry in the region, nothing prevents us from starting to build,
because it has been proved that freezing building in Jerusalem did not
help to renew negotiations with the Palestinians, and only served to
worsen the housing crisis in the city."
Ma'ariv reported on Sunday that the municipality is scheduled to approve a tax discount on the new Har Homa housing units.
The
reported tax break is expected to bring down the price of the housing
units by thousands of shekels and cost the Housing and Construction
Ministry some NIS 100 million.
If only we would actually build. Actions should have consequences. But they probably won't.
Labels: Abu Mazen, East Jerusalem, Har Homa, Jerusalem construction, John Kerry, Saeb Erekat
Shades of Yitzchak Shamir: Housing units in 'east' Jerusalem approved day before Kerry arrival
Back in the late '80's and early '90's, we had a feisty Prime Minister named Yitzchak Shamir.
A former Lehi commander, Shamir wasn't going to be kept down. Every time then-President George H.W. Bush sent an emissary to see Shamir, on the day of or the day before the emissary's arrival, a new 'settlement' went up.
Are we seeing it happening again, albeit with the comparatively gutless Netanyahu hiding behind some low level functionaries?
On Wednesday, the day before US Secretary of State John FN Kerry is due to arrive, the Jerusalem Municipality quietly announced that
69 more Jewish homes in 'east' Jerusalem's Har Homa neighborhood have been green-lighted.
The Jerusalem Municipality on Wednesday approved construction permits
for 69 new homes in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Homa, just
one day before US Secretary of State John Kerry is due to arrive in hopes of rekindling direct Israeli Palestinian talks.
The homes are the tail end of large project of more than 1,000 units in Har Homa
that was approved in August 2011 and for which tenders were issued in
April 2012, according to the non-governmental group Peace Now and
Jerusalem city councilman Meir Margalit (Meretz).
The contractor who won the bid on these last remaining 69 homes, had
submitted the paper work regarding their construction to the Jerusalem
Municipality's Local Planning Committee.
On Wednesday it issued construction permits for the project. The contractor is now authorized to start building.
The
Jerusalem Municipality said said that the construction permit was given
to a private contractor for a project that had already been approved
for Har Homa. It added that city has not right to deprive property
owners of their rights.
Somewhere Yitzchak Shamir is jumping for joy at this clever ploy. And we should be too. After all, Jerusalem is the capital of the Jewish people and the Jewish state.
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Binyamin Netanyahu, East Jerusalem, George H. W. Bush, Har Homa, Israel is my home, Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, John Kerry, Yitzchak Shamir
Livni whines over Ramat Shlomo
Building in Jerusalem is very popular. In addition to the 1,500 housing units that were approved in Ramat Shlomo earlier this week, the Netanyahu government has announced that it will speed up the approval process for another 5,000 units. Needless to say, this has not endeared the Likud-Beiteinu combination to the Tzipi Livni party. On Wednesday morning, on Israel Radio,
Livni had a tantrum.
Speaking to Israel Radio, Livni said "They do this every election. The
Likud is exposing Jerusalem to international condemnation for electoral
purposes."
...
For her part, Livni said Israel must reserve the right to build in
Jerusalem, Israel's capital city. "I myself built in Jerusalem," she
said, referencing her governmental experience in previous Likud- and
Kadima-led coalitions. "I built in Jerusalem," she repeated, "and I will
protect it in any diplomatic negotiations [with the Palestinians.]"
The
difference, she added, was that her construction over the green line
was undertaken in conjunction with negotiations. "When we built, there
was international silence. Because we were building alongside a
diplomatic effort to reach a solution," she said.
Actually, that's a load of crap. Ramat Shlomo was completed in 1996 - before Livni took office. The only new neighborhood that has been built in 'east' Jerusalem since has been Har Homa, which was approved and started... during Netanyahu's first term in office. In fact, Livni and her boss,
Ehud K. Olmert, spent most of their time in office
denying that they agreed to a freeze in 'east' Jerusalem.
The only housing that has been built in 'east' Jerusalem since then has been small projects here and there. There has been nothing as significant as Givat HaMatos, a new neighborhood proposed for the southern end of the city, and no project has been as large as the 1,500 units proposed for Ramat Shlomo.
Israelis aren't dumb enough to be fooled by Livni.
Labels: East Jerusalem, Givat HaMatos, Har Homa, Ramat Shlomo, Tzipi Livni
Of course: US, EU, UN rip Israel over construction
You knew this was coming: The US, EU and UN are
ripping Israel over plans to build in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria.
The United States and European Union both expressed concern and disappointment on Wednesday at Israel's decision to accelerate settlement building in response to the Palestinians' acceptance to UNESCO.
The White House said it was "deeply disappointed" with Israel's speeding up of settlement building. White House spokesman Jay Carney told a briefing that the move did not advance the goal of bridging differences between Israelis and the Palestinians.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton joined the US in condemning Israel's settlement plan on Wednesday, saying that she was "deeply concerned by the latest Israeli decisions to expedite settlement activities in response to Palestinian accession to UNESCO."
Ashton joined other European leaders in asserting that the plan to accelerate building in settlements serves as an impediment to getting Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table.
"Israeli settlement activity is illegal under international law including in east Jerusalem and an obstacle to peace. We have stated this many times before. We call on Israel to reverse this decision and call on both sides to continue their engagement with the Quartet on advancing peace efforts," Ashton stated.
Stating that it's illegal doesn't make it illegal. In fact, it's not. And how does Ashton think we are supposed to respond to the 'Palestinians' unilateral moves? By waiting for them to come around? By making more concessions? That's not going to get them back to the table with anything meaningful to discuss.
There's more
here.
But how about this irony alert by the Washington Post's
Jackson Diehl (Hat Tip:
Soccer Dad).
Two of the three settlements where #Israel accelerating construction were conceded to Israel by Abbas in 2008 talks with Olmert.
The third one is Har Homa, which is also in the Jerusalem city limits.
Labels: Har Homa, Jerusalem construction, Judea and Samaria construction
Jewish woman in labor narrowly escapes lynch attempt
A Jewish woman in labor on Yom Kippur barely escaped with her life and her baby after being confronted by a
'Palestinian' mob on her way to the hospital (Hat Tip:
Atlas Shrugs).
Palestinian Authority terrorists continued their attacks on innocent Jewish motorists over Yom Kippur, this time attacking a woman in labor and her husband as they rushed to the hospital. The husband, Ariel Goldman of Pnei Kedem, told Arutz Sheva that the two were lucky to escape with their lives.
Their ordeal began near Har Homa at 2:30 a.m., as they drove to Hadassah Ein Karem hospital in Jerusalem. Suddenly, they encountered a point in the road that had been blocked by large stones.
As Goldman slowed the car, looking for a way around the trap, several Palestinian Authority terrorists jumped out and began to hurl rocks at the car.
The attack turned into a game of cat and mouse, as Goldman looked for ways around the rocks and tried to keep moving, while the terrorists followed the car and continued to pelt it with heavy stones, using a tactic that recently resulted in two deaths near Hevron.
The terrorists “had murder in their eyes,” Goldman said.
He finally managed to pass the stone barrier and speed away from the group of attackers, only to encounter a second group that attempted to stone the car near the Jerusalem neighborhood of Talpiot. Goldman managed to speed away a second time.
Mrs. Goldman gave birth to a healthy baby boy.
Mazal Tov.
But throwing stones is 'peaceful,' isn't it?
Labels: Har Homa, Palestinian terrorism, stone throwers, Yom Kippur
State Department: US 'deeply concerned' about - what else?
On Thursday, I reported that the City of Jerusalem gave
final approval for the construction of 930 housing units to be added to the Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Homa. It took a few days, but the US State Department reacted to that report on Tuesday, expressing 'deep concern' (that would put us on the same level with Asssad murdering civilians... except that I can't even find 'deep concern' from the State Department about that recently) that Israel is going to
build apartments for Jews within its capital city (Hat Tip:
Memeorandum).
In a statement, the department said the U.S. has raised the issue with Israel and noted such “unilateral actions work against efforts to resume direct negotiations and contradict the logic of a reasonable and necessary agreement between the parties.”
The administration will “press ahead with the parties to resolve the core issues in the context of a peace agreement,” the statement said.
The housing project will expand the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Homa, which directly borders the Palestinian town of Bethlehem, by 930 units. Construction on the project, which was approved last week, is at least two years away, The Associated Press reported.
For the record, Har Homa is in southern Jerusalem. It is not a 'settlement' and until Obama came along, no US administration called Jerusalem suburbs 'settlements.' There's not a Jerusalem Arab anywhere near it (the closest ones are probably in Beit Tzefafa).
The picture above, which ran with the Politico report from which I quoted, is not identified. The implication is that it is part of the area into which Har Homa is to be expanded. It looks like there are a lot of people living there, doesn't it?
Then Politico comes up with this one:
In its rebuke, the State Department said Israel and Palestine must continue to work for a peace agreement through the negotiating process.
No, the
State Department briefing did not refer to 'Palestine.' Hey Politico - there ain't no such thing as 'Palestine.'
Haaretz adds (Hat Tip:
Noah Pollak via Twitter).
The State Department's statement was made four days after AFP reported that EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton condemned Israel's approval of the new housing units and five days after top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat’s released a statement slamming the Israeli approval.
Ashton said the new move damaged Israel's prospects for peace. "The European Union has repeatedly urged the government of Israel to immediately end all settlement activities in the West Bank, including in East Jerusalem. All settlement activities are illegal under international law,” AFP quoted Ashton as saying in a statement.
"Continued settlement undermines trust between the parties and efforts to resume negotiations. This is especially true with regard to Jerusalem," the EU chief said, adding "I believe there can be no sustainable peace in the Middle East without a two-state solution with the state of Israel and a viable and contiguous Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security."
"Settlement activity damages this prospect," she cautioned.
Hey - what took the State Department so long?
And isn't it amazing that with all the other things going on in the world, this continues to take the top priority for the State Department and for the EU 'foreign policy chief'?
Actually, continuing 'settlement activities' is the only way the 'Palestinians' are ever likely to come back to the table. You see, so long as Israel is freezing 'settlement activities,' the 'Palestinians' have nothing to lose by staying away. If their staying away means that Israel does whatever it pleases, then they have something to lose by staying away.
What could go wrong?
Labels: European Union, Har Homa, State Department obsession with Israel
Final approval given for 930 apartments in Har Homa
Israel Radio reports that final approval has been given for the construction of 930 new apartments in Har Homa. Har Homa is a neighborhood in southern Jerusalem, which is beyond the terminus of Jewish sovereignty that was demarcated by the 1949 armistice lines. It is one of two Jewish neighborhoods that was built in Jerusalem in the last 20 years that has 'popularly priced' apartments. The land and building rights may now be sold to contractors.
Condemnation coming from the EU and the Obama State Department in 3... 2... 1....
All this is happening just in the nick of time. In Tel Aviv, a group of Leftists has been arrested for attempting to set fire to a tent belonging to Rightists in the Rothschild Boulevard tent encampment according to Israel Radio. With the Leftists so eager to make more people homeless, the government's determination to provide more housing for Jews is welcome.
The picture at the top is Har Homa.
Labels: 1949 armistice lines, Har Homa, housing crisis, Jerusalem construction, Jerusalem is the capital of Israel
Har Homa was built on Jewish-owned land
Lost in the argument over building in Jerusalem, writes Leo Rennert, is the fact that Har Homa, where most of the new apartments are being built, is built entirely on land that has been
owned by Jews for nearly a century.
What is utterly ludicrous about this concocted tempest in a Jerusalem teacup is that the bulk of the new apartment units are to go up in Har Homa, a Jewish neighborhood of some 12,000 residents in southeast Jerusalem. Two thirds of Har Homa is on land purchased by Jews after the First World War. The other third is owned by Arabs. The entire existing Harm Homa neighborhood was built on Jewish-owned land and plans for additional housing units also are confined to this part of Har Homa. None of this appeared in media reports or in the criticism leveled by Obama, the State Department and the European Union.
Nor did they bother to point out that, under any realistic scenario for a two-state solution, even with a division of Jerusalem, Har Homa will remain on the Israeli side.
With typical historical amnesia, these Israel-bashers also failed to point out that, during Israel's War of Independence, Jordanian forces attempting to eliminate the Jewish state used Har Homa as a vantage point from which to fire on the Old City of Jerusalem and other neighborhoods of the city.
In their cramped and selective sense of history, none of this matters. Their historical perspective begins with the last day of the Six-Day War in 1967 when Israel prevailed over Jordanian and other Arab armies intent on destroying it, and in the process reunified Jerusalem.
Thus, Washington Post correspondent Joel Greenberg describes Har Homas as an "area of the West Bank annexed to Jerusalem." New York Times correspondent Isabel Kershner, in similar vein, calls it a "Jewish residential development in southern Jerusalem in territory that Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 war, and then annexed."
So never mind that Har Homa has been on Jewish owned land from well before Jordan illegally occupied it in 1948, in clear violation of the 1947 UN two-state partition plan.
All that history is brushed aside. What matters to the Times and the Post -- as well as to Obama, the State Department and the Europeans -- is their own brand of historical revisionism that ignores all Jewish ties and claims to Jerusalem for several thousands of years before the Six-Day War of 1967.
Indeed.
Labels: Har Homa, Jerusalem construction, media bias
The blame game
I can recall traveling to the Jewish neighborhood of Ramot (also known as Ramot Alon) in 1978. There was not an Arab in sight. At the time, Ramot was small - today it is much larger. But the closest Arab village is barely in sight and only from a small portion of Ramot. The neighborhood is huge.
Har Homa (also known as Homat Shmuel) was opened in 1996, and today houses over 4,000 families. It was built on vacant land on the southern outskirts of the city. Along with Ramat Shlomo, it is the only large-scale, reasonably priced (i.e. non-luxury) housing built in Jerusalem since the 1980's. We have a severe housing shortage in Jerusalem.
On Friday, an approval was granted for an additional 1,300 housing units in Ramot and Har Homa. It doesn't mean that construction will start tomorrow. It could take months or even years. And once construction of a new neighborhood starts, it's usually 2-3 years until people start moving in. Nevertheless, the US, the 'Palestinians' and the Europeans are making noise about Israel approving new construction in these neighborhoods in Jerusalem, which under any 'final settlement' scenario discussed before President Obama took office have been included in Israel.
The response should be, "Jerusalem is our capital city, these are existent Jewish neighborhoods in the city and there is nothing to be discussed here. We always said explicitly that we would not freeze building in Jerusalem." But instead, government ministers are playing the
blame game and trying to set each other up as the fall guy.
Mr. Netanyahu is in New Orleans to address the Jewish Federation of North America's General Assembly. On Sunday, he met with Vice President Joseph Biden in the city.
A similar announcement during Mr. Biden's visit to Jersualem last year, of Israel's intentionplan to build 1,600 units in another East Jerusalem development, plunged U.S.-Israel ties into one of its worst crises in decades.
After that incident, which Mr. Netanyahu said occurred without his prior knowledge, the prime minister's office quietly put out orders to government bureaucrats that any housing announcements in East Jerusalem required the approval of Mr. Netanyahu's military attaché, Maj. Gen. Yochanan Locker, said Jerusalem municipality officials and Western diplomats.
Mr. Netanyahu's office signed off on the latest settlement announcement, a senior Jerusalem municipality official said. A senior aide to Mr. Netanyahu declined to comment on whether or not the prime minister had known about the announcement ahead of time.
"Nothing in East Jerusalem can be approved before the prime minister's office approves it," said the official. "That's the regulations since the last Biden visit."
The Ministry of Interior, which is responsible for advancing planning for new housing units, is controlled by Eli Yishai, head of the religious Shas Party. Mr. Yishai is facing an internal challenge to his leadership of the party and analysts say he is trying to fend off that challenge by advocating increasingly hard-line positions.
YNet
adds:
An Israeli official addressed the US criticism of east Jerusalem housing construction permits, saying that "There is no doubt that the finger of blame is pointed at Eli Yishai and the Interior Ministry. They are the ones responsible for announcing the permits."
The official also noted that as per an earlier agreement between Interior Minister Yishai and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the announcement was to be made on October 20, but for some reason it was postponed until this past weekend. "The timing is unusual, no doubt, but it is uncertain that the announcement was made intentionally on this date," said a minister who did not want to be identified. "It is not impossible that it was made as result of inattention and carelessness."
But an assignment of blame is not what's called for here. No one should be apologizing.
I should add that the Wall Street Journal (the first link) throws two very subtle digs into its article that display the reporter's bias against Israel. This is the first one:
Today, Har Homa is home to more than 4,000 Jewish families and is often cited by Palestinians as one of the most egregious examples of how Israel continued massive settlement construction even at the height of the Oslo peace process and one of the reasons why they are today so insistent on a full freeze on settlement building.
What you're not being told here is that nothing in the Oslo accords requires Israel to freeze 'settlement construction.' That came up during the negotiations, Israel refused and the 'Palestinians' signed the agreements anyway. They have no right to come back and try to renegotiate them after the fact.
The second indicator of bias in the Journal article is the picture, which is not of Har Homa, Ramot or anyplace else in Jerusalem. It's Kiryat Arba. While I am in favor of building in Kiryat Arba, many Israelis are not and many Israelis would (unfortunately, in my opinion) give it away to the 'Palestinians.' But whatever the case, Kiryat Arba is not Jerusalem. Jerusalem is not a 'settlement.'
Labels: building permits, Har Homa, Jerusalem, Oslo accords, Ramot, settlement freeze
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.
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.
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.
Labels: 1949 armistice lines, Binyamin Netanyahu, Har Homa, Joe Biden, Ramot
