JERUSALEM - Jerusalem planners have approved the construction of a new Jewish neighborhood in the city's Muslim Quarter, officials said.
The plan to build 21 apartments for Jews in the walled Old City's Muslim Quarter was approved 5-2 by a local Planning Board, said Yosef Alalu, a dovish city council member who is on the committee. The plan must go through several more bureaucratic stages before final approval.
The plan was presented to the Planning Board by the Housing Ministry.
Palestinian officials accused Israel of creating facts on the ground ahead of a peace deal that would determine the fate of Jerusalem.
"It will be like adding fuel to the fire, and we urge U.S. intervention to block this decision," said Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator.
Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed it into its capital, a decision not recognized internationally. Palestinians want east Jerusalem, including the walled Old City, as the capital of a future state.
Jewish Israelis moving into largely Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem have been controversial and violence has broken out spradically.
The current plan does not involve private property transactions, but is backed by the government. Alalu said the municipality would have to rezone a "green" area to build the apartments.
'International impact'
"It is clear that when the first tractor puts down the first stone it will lead to the next uprising and could have international impact," Alalu said.
The Old City consists of four quarters - Muslim, Christian, Jewish and Armenian. Today, just a few Jewish families live in the Muslim Quarter, in fortified complexes.
About a dozen properties are owned by Jews, including Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who bought an apartment there in 1987. For several years, Sharon used the apartment to hold political meetings but today rarely visits the heavily guarded compound.
The plan - which has been in the works for several years - would violate a city ban on building within 10 meters (11 yards) of the Old City wall, Alalu claimed.
City engineer Uri Shetrit initially opposed the plan, which called for the construction of 30 housing units, Alalu said. Due to the engineer's concerns, the committee approved a smaller plan for 21 homes, but recommended the Regional Planning Board - the next stop in the authorization process - approve the larger plan, Alalu said.
The municipality said Shetrit is not permitted to speak to reporters. It could take years for the plan to move from paper to actual construction, Alalu said, because several more approval stages remain.
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