Interior Minister Eli Yishai
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Yishai aide: Resume east J'lem construction discussions
Month-and-a-half after Biden debacle, Interior Ministry director-general sends letter to District Panning and Construction Committee calling for advancement of construction plans in east Jerusalem 'as was customary in the past'
Ever since the crisis that broke out following US President Joe Biden's visit to Israel, during which the Jerusalem District Planning and Construction Committee approved the construction of 1,600 housing units in Ramat Shlomo, the committee has been careful not to discuss such sensitive issues, in hopes of calming tensions in US-Israel ties.
On Monday, however, Ynet learned that Interior Minister Eli Yishai is working to bring talks on construction in east Jerusalem neighborhoods back to the committee's agenda.
Yishai's aide, Interior Ministry Director-General Gabi Maimon sent a letter to the committee's head Ruth Yosef, in which he said plans should be promoted in the district committee "as was customary in the past."
However, Maimon added that decisions "of heavy significance" should first pass through him, in order to avoid undesirable developments.
Yishai's spokesman, Roee Lahmanovitch, refused to comment on the matter.
Following the Biden debacle, the Ministerial Committee on Legislative Affairs passed an addendum to the planning and building law mandating that a representative from the Prime Minister's Office take part in discussions on building plan authorizations, and in practice, all plans considered to have "explosive" potential were taken off the agenda.
