Israel’s interior minister has given final approval for the construction of 1,600 new settler homes in east Jerusalem, his spokesman said Thursday, prompting a furious reaction from Palestinian officials. Spokesman Roei Lachmanovich said Interior Minister Eli Yishai had endorsed the construction of 1,600 units in the Ramat Shlomo neighbourhood and would shortly approve 2,700 additional homes in two other east Jerusalem settlement suburbs.
The move is likely to anger the international community as it struggles to find a way to relaunch peace talks in a bid to head off a Palestinian plan to seek UN membership. “He has approved 1,600 homes in Ramat Shlomo and will approve 2,000 more in Givat Hamatos and 700 in Pisgat Zeev,” Lachmanovich said, referring to two additional Jewish neighbourhoods in east Jerusalem. The announcement drew a quick response from the Palestinian leadership. “We strongly condemn the new Israeli decision to build new settlement homes in east Jerusalem,” Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP. He urged the US and President Obama “to reconsider their position rejecting the Palestinian move to go to the UN for recognition of a Palestinian state on the 1967 lines with east Jerusalem as its capital.”
