Israel approves 900 additional homes in East Jerusalem
Interior Ministry committee approves construction near Beit Jala; 1,200 units authorized on Sunday; Kerry unsurprised
Two
days before the scheduled resumption of peace talks with the
Palestinians, a diplomatic source said Monday that Israel secretly
authorized construction of 900 new housing units in East Jerusalem.
The Housing Ministry later confirmed that additional permits for housing construction had indeed been issued.
The new units will be built south of the West Bank Palestinian village of Beit Jala.
The news came a day after the Housing Ministry
approved the construction of 1,200 apartments in settlement blocs and Jerusalem neighborhoods beyond the Green Line.
“We will continue issuing tenders for construction in Jerusalem and the settlement blocs,” the source said.
Speaking
at a news conference in Bogota, Colombia, US Secretary of State John
Kerry said Monday that he didn’t think the recent flap over Israeli
settlement announcements will derail Mideast peace talks, which are
scheduled to resume this week.
According to Kerry, the Israeli
move was expected. The secretary said he talked about the announcements
with the top Israeli negotiator. He added that the US government views
the settlements as illegitimate and said criticism on the Palestinian
side underscores the need to get to the negotiating table quickly.
Kerry is also trying to reach Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to the Associated Press.
According
to Channel 10 News, the Jerusalem Development Authority requested
permits to begin construction at the site nine months ago, but the
Interior Ministry only recently authorized the project.
The JDA is
partly under the jurisdiction of the Prime Minister’s Office, which was
unavailable for comment regarding the authorization.
Diplomatic
sources quoted by Channel 10 News justified the construction approval,
saying that while the Palestinian Authority demanded a settlement freeze
as a precondition to peace talks, Israel did not accept such terms.
“Israel
has never promised not to build,” the source said. The official added
that the approved units were in a location which, Palestinians agree,
will remain in Israeli hands even after the signing of any future
agreement.
“We do not accept the legitimacy of continued
settlement activity,” Deputy State Department Spokeswoman Marie Harf
said Monday shortly after the news broke of the 900 new homes. “These
announcements come at a particularly sensitive time and we have raised
our concerns with the government of Israel.”
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Russia calls Israel settlement plan 'counterproductive'
August 12, 2013 04:17 PM
A
Palestinian labourer works on a construction site in the West Bank
Jewish settlement of Beitar Ilit, near Bethlehem August 11, 2013.
REUTERS/Amir Cohen
MOSCOW:
Russia on Monday criticized a "counterproductive" decision by
Israel to invite bids to build nearly 1,200 homes in the occupied
West Bank and annexed east
Jerusalem on the eve of planned peace talks.
The Russian foreign ministry said
Moscow was "seriously concerned" by the move.
"The
announcement of such plans on the eve of a new round of negotiations
due to be held in Jerusalem on August 14 ... is a counterproductive step
that complicates the atmosphere of the talks," the Russian ministry
statement said.
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The issue of building settlements in occupied Palestinian areas halted the last direct peace talks in September 2010
Palestinians
have reacted angrily to Israel's approval of nearly 1,200 new Jewish
settlement homes, just days before peace talks are set to resume.
Palestinian negotiators said the approval cast doubt on Israel's sincerity in the peace process.
Israel's housing minister said no country in the world would take orders on where it could build its homes.
The issue of building settlements in occupied Palestinian areas halted the last direct talks in September 2010.
About
500,000 Jews live in more than 100 settlements built since Israel's
1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The Palestinians
want to establish their state in those areas, as well as the Gaza Strip.
The settlements are considered illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.
'Dangerous policy'
On
Sunday, Israeli Housing Minister Uri Ariel confirmed that 793
apartments would be built in East Jerusalem and 394 in several large
West Bank settlements.
Palestinians
see continued Israeli construction on the land where they aspire to
create a new state as one of the biggest obstacles to peace.
The
timing of this announcement may deepen the sense of pessimism that
surrounds renewed peace talks even before they've really begun.
Housing
Minister Uri Ariel comes from a party which opposes the very idea of a
Palestinian state bordering Israel on the West Bank of the River Jordan.
He 's now invited private firms to tender for the construction work.
More
liberal members of Israel's broad coalition government will be
uncomfortable with the tone and timing of the news. Palestinian leaders
will be angered but may well have factored the possibility of this type
of announcement into their overall political calculations.
Israel
is also preparing to free 26 Palestinian prisoners on the eve of this
week's scheduled peace talks. Announcing the settlement construction at
the same time may be intended as a sop to right-wing supporters of the
government who oppose those prisoner releases.
Palestinians said the plans brought into question Israel's commitment to the peace process.
Palestinian
negotiator Mohammed Shtayeh said Israel aimed "to destroy the basis of
the solution called for by the international community, which aims to
establish a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders".
He accused Israel of trying to "determine the negotiations in whichever way suits it best".
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