PALESTINIAN PRIME Minister Salam Fayyad has accused Israel of “a total disregard for Palestinian rights” after the Israeli interior ministry announced its final approval for the construction of more than 4,000 housing units in East Jerusalem.
Interior minister Eli Yishai said he had authorised 625 units in Pisgat Zeev, 1,600 in Ramat Shlomo and 2,000 in Givat Hamatos. These are all neighbourhoods built by Israel in territory previously held by Jordan which was captured in the 1967 Six Day War and annexed. Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem are permitted to live in such suburbs, but very few actually do. Ramat Shlomo is designated as a strictly ultra-orthodox Jewish area.
Israel was condemned internationally last week when it announced it was building 930 new units in Har Homa, an Israeli suburb built across the Green Line on the southern outskirts of Jerusalem, close to Bethlehem. Critics included the EU and the US state department, which said it was “deeply concerned”.
In a statement, Mr Fayyad condemned the latest decision, calling the areas “occupied territory that belongs to Palestinians”.
“The government of Israel continues to expand settlement activity while it makes claims that it wants to return to the negotiation table. Their actions clearly demonstrate Israel’s intentions to conduct their affairs outside the realm of international law and show total disregard for Palestinian rights. The Palestinian government calls upon the international community to take immediate action to force Israel to comply with international law and cease and desist from its illegal expansion and annexation of Palestinian land,” he said.
Robert Serry, the United Nations special co-ordinator for the Middle East peace process, said he was “alarmed” by the Israeli announcement, and noted the Ramat Shlomo plan “was already condemned by the Quartet on 12 March 2010 during an initial planning stage. This provocative action undermines ongoing efforts by the international community to bring the parties back to negotiations and shape a positive agenda,” said Mr Serry.
The 1,600 units in Ramat Shlomo will be built almost immediately. The announcement of the house-building there during the first official trip to the country by US vice-president Joe Biden last year caused a major rift in Israel-US relations.
After that debacle, Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu demanded a review of procedures so he would not be surprised by future announcements.
Interior ministry spokesman Roi Lachmanovich said yesterday Mr Netanyahu’s office knew the construction plans in Ramat Shlomo were moving ahead.
Other projects could take several years because they must first undergo complex land allocation and tender procedures.
“These are being approved because of the economic crisis here in Israel; they are looking for a place to build in Jerusalem, and these will help,” said Mr Lachmanovich. “This is nothing political, it’s just economic.” The Israeli government has been rattled in recent weeks by mass demonstrations demanding a solution to the country’s severe housing shortage.
Peace Now accused the Israeli government of “cynically using the current housing crisis in Israel to promote construction in the settlements” and of serving “extreme right-wing ideology. Interior minister Eli Yishai’s actions destroy the chance of reaching any political solution in Jerusalem, and deal a fatal blow to Israel’s status on the eve of the UN Assembly meeting,” said the activist group, referring to a Palestinian bid to seek a UN resolution in September recognising an independent state of Palestine.