PM's Office says Netanyahu regrets timing of east Jerusalem plan

Head of the National Information Directorate Nir Hefetz announced that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talked with US Vice President Joe Biden and expressed his regret about the unfortunate timing of the decision to approve 1,600 new housing units in east Jerusalem.

"The prime minister informed the vice president that the project in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood has gone through a number of planning stages in recent years," Hefetz said. "The final approval will take, it seems, more than a year, while actual construction will only start a few years from now." (Roni Sofer)