Israel’s housing minister has given final approval for the construction of 1,187 new housing units in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, just three days before Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are set to resume in Jerusalem.
Housing and Construction Minister Uri Ariel (Jewish Home) announced Sunday that 793 new apartments would be built in Jerusalem, and 394 in large settlement blocs in the West Bank.
“No country in the world takes orders from other countries where it can build and where it can’t,” Ariel said in his statement. “We will continue to market the homes, and to build in the entire country… This is the right thing at the present time, for Zionism and for the economy.”
Ariel has long been a vocal supporter of building across the Green Line, having previously served as secretary general of Amana, a settlement movement, and of the Yesha Council, an umbrella group of settlement municipalities.
Four hundred new units are set to be built in the Gilo neighborhood, 210 in Har Homa, and 183 in Pisgat Zeev neighborhoods of Jerusalem. In the West Bank, Efrat would receive 149 new apartments, Ariel 117, Maaleh Adumim 92, and Beitar 36.
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, up for re-election this fall, praised the development. “New building in Jerusalem is crucial for developing and strengthening the city and for allowing young residents to live and acquire an apartment there,” he said on his Facebook page. “I am pleased that Israel’s government sees eye-to-eye with us on this important need. We must continue to intensify building more and more housing units in all parts of the city and for all sectors, alongside continued economic, cultural, and educational development of Jerusalem.”
Source: timesofisrael
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Our comment: Why does the times of Israel, does not call the 'West Bank' by its own proper and legal biblical name: Judea and Samaria. the Jordanians falsely called the area West Bank when they occupied it from 1948 till 1967. Come on you Jewish people, it is your God-given and promised land. (These are the mountains of Israel, read Ezekiel chapter 36 your Tenach).
