Fearing reprisals, Israel delays vote on building permits in eastern Jerusalem
Decision to delay vote on the construction of nearly 500 new homes in eastern half of the capital comes hours before John Kerry delivers policy speech on conflict; despite efforts not to inflame tensions, Yesha Council official labels Kerry 'the worst secretary of state in history...ignorant of the issues.'
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requested the decision be put off, said Jerusalem Planning and Housing Committee member Hanan Rubin. A spokesman for Netanyahu had no immediate comment.
Rubin said 492 permits for construction of homes for Israelis in the urban settlements of Ramot and Ramat Shlomo, in areas that Israel captured in the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed to Jerusalem, had been up for approval.
The United States on Friday broke with a longstanding approach of diplomatically shielding Israel and abstained on the Security Council resolution, which passed with 14 countries in favour and none against.
Kerry will discuss the abstention when he speaks at the State Department at 11am ET (6pm Israeli time), a senior State Department official told reporters on Tuesday.
The speech will also address what the official called "misleading" accusations by Israeli officials that the Obama administration drafted and forced the resolution to a vote.
Voting on the new building permits was removed from the committee's agenda for the session "because of Kerry's speech at 6pm. The prime minister said that while he supports construction in Jerusalem, we don't have to inflame the situation any further," Rubin said.
The committee meets regularly, and it could consider approving the permits at a future date.
Oded Revivi, chief foreign envoy of the Yesha Council made scathing remarks about Kerry ahead of his speech, labelling him "a stain on American foreign policy" and describing him as "ignorant of the issues."
Revivi said Kerry is "the worst secretary of state in history" who "chose to stab his closest ally in the back" and knows little about the realities of Israeli communities in the West Bank.
