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Atias. 'Jerusalem is our capital'
Photo: Gabi Menashe

Housing minister: J'lem construction plan not a provocation

Ariel Atias tells Ynet 700 new apartments in east Jerusalem part of planned move to ease housing shortage, price hike

Housing Minister Ariel Atias told Ynet on Sunday that the new plan for 692 housing units in three Jerusalem neighborhoods located beyond the green line was not aimed at creating a provocation. "Jerusalem is the capital of Israel," he stated.

 

The tender, which will be issued by the Housing and Construction Ministry on Monday, includes the construction of about 6,500 housing units in 54 communities, including the following disputed neighborhoods: 377 new apartments in Neve Yaakov, 117 housing units in Har Homa and 198 in Pisgat Ze'ev.

 

Addressing the possibility that the new plan would lead to a serious conflict with the Palestinians, the European Union and the United States, state officials have stressed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared while announcing the 10-month building freeze in the West Bank that there would be no limitations on the capital.

 

Despite Netanyahu's declaration, Israel has been subject to harsh criticism recently due to moves taken in east Jerusalem. Early this month, the European Union's foreign ministers adopted a declaration that Jerusalem must be the capital of two states and that this must be agreed on in negotiations.

 

The EU ministers wrote in their resolution that they were very concerned by the situation in east Jerusalem.

 

The building bids in east Jerusalem issued by the Housing and Construction Ministry comprise a little more than 10% of the national plan declared Sunday. The ministry's latest moves, since September, include lands for the sale of 16,633 housing units.

 

Minister Atias clarified that the east Jerusalem plan is part of the national effort to reduce housing prices. "There is a housing shortage and a price hike problem across Israel, so we are acting in great waves. This is a planned move, in order to ease this situation, in Jerusalem as well," he said.

 


פרסום ראשון: 12.27.09, 23:01
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