Israel moves on plans to build in east Jerusalem
The Associated Press, Jerusalem | Wed, 09/09/2009 1:20 PM
Israel is moving ahead with plans to build 486 apartments in east
Jerusalem, despite U.S. efforts to halt Israeli construction there and
in the West Bank.
The Israel Lands Administration has chosen developers to build the project after a long delay over pricing disputes, according to an announcement it released Tuesday.
The government had approved the project before but the selection of developers had been held up over pricing disputes, the agency said. It had sought bids to build 668 apartments, but could only entertain proposals that met minimum requirements, the agency said.
The construction is planned for the outer edge of Jerusalem's northeastern boundary and would narrow the distance between the Jewish neighborhood of Pisgat Zeev and nearby Palestinian communities, the Haaretz newspaper said Wednesday.
The announcement that developers had been chosen comes days after the U.S. rebuked Israel for authorizing the building of hundreds of new homes in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
That move was also assailed by the Palestinians, who say they won't resume peace talks until Israel freezes construction on those lands.
The Palestinians claim the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip for a future state.
Israel captured all three areas in the 1967 Mideast war, then withdrew from Gaza in 2005. Hamas militants overran that territory two years later.
By rebuffing U.S. pressure on settlement construction, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has solidified the support of his hawkish coalition. But the dispute has caused unprecedented tensions with Washington.
U.S. Mideast envoy George Mitchell is due in the region later this week to increase the pressure on Israel to make concessions on settlement construction that would allow peace talks to resume.
Netanyahu has said the newly approved homes are a prelude to a West Bank building slowdown. But the international community has rejected that depiction because Israel plans to continue building some 3,000 homes already approved.
About 300,000 Israelis live among about 2.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank and an additional 180,000 live in Jewish neighborhoods of east Jerusalem.
