‘E. J’lem building plan delayed for political sensitivity’
Tenders to build 1,500 units in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood of east Jerusalem have been delayed by at least three weeks, despite Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s announcement last week that there was no change in policy on settlement building in the area, Army Radio reported Monday.
Op-ed: News of construction freeze in Jerusalem received with apathy by even the most hardline Likudniks
Hagai Segal, YNET NEWS
The prime minister gave Jerusalem an odd gift on its holiday: A construction freeze. On the 46th anniversary of the city’s liberation by a Labor government, a Likud government is freezing it. Levi Eshkol liberated, Benjamin Netanyahu is freezing. He hardly built any homes in Jerusalem during his previous term, and now he is not building any at all. The new housing minister revealed this week that he is not being authorized to add even one apartment to the capital. The prime minister summoned him a few days ago and handed him a freezing order for all construction beyond the Green Line.
To his credit, Netanyahu did not attend the Jerusalem Day ceremonies this year, so we were spared the traditional dissonance between his tough talk and lack of action. Praising a united Jerusalem while dividing it is extremely hypocritical. Netanyahu is forbidding Jews from building in Pisgat Ze’ev but does nothing to prevent Arabs from building in Shufat, Beit Hanina and the Temple Mount. has run out of land reserves in its western part long ago. It is no coincidence that the most talked about building project in Jerusalem over the past decade has been the Holyland apartment complex. Despite its immense size, the project did not solve the housing shortage in the city or thwart the threats of withdrawal it faces.
When Netanyahu froze Jerusalem during his last term, on the occasion of Biden’s visit, it caused an uproar in the Right. This week, even the most hardline Likud members did not say a word. News of the construction freeze was received with shrugs or lip biting. The former Likud rebels have become deputy ministers, and the Likudniks have yet to realize that Netanyahu version 2013 is cruising toward the 1967 lines.
Today, Netanyahu is closer to Zahava Gal-On than to his old self. His diplomatic rhetoric is Tzipi Livni’s rhetoric. On Independence Day he delivered a leftist speech to foreign diplomats in which he lauded the tenets of the 1947 Partition Plan (he said something along the lines of ‘we said yes to it then, and we say yes to it now’).
People still suspect, mistakenly, that he is not serious when he makes such statements, but he means what he says. If his party continues to devote itself to denial rather than protest, he may implement his plans as well.
The big question about Bibi is despite all his talk about red lines, what will he do about Iran’s nuclear program. My guess is nothing…until Iran strikes Israel.
Ted Belman Said:
Sounds like our Mexicans,”We don’t need no stinken rules”. Maybe they know what they’re doing.
@ CuriousAmerican: You are wrong on a number of things you said.
1. Arabs in Jerusalem can at anytime apply for citizenship. Not even 10% of them have applied.
2. The Arab population in Jerusalem has been growing for many years while the Jewish population is in decline. The Master Plan provides Arab construction proportionate to Jewish construction.
3. Permits are available but the Arabs don’t want to pay for them or the service charges that come with them. So they build illegally.
@ CuriousAmerican:
I love you Sweetie Pie,what are you curious about?
Despite what everyone seems to think about me, I do NOT think Jerusalem should be divided.
Division along those lines is not stable. Divided Germany did not last.
It should be under Jewish control, though the Arabs in Jersualem should be given building permits – there is some evidence that Arabs in Jerusalem are not given permits as openly.
Jerusalem should NOT be considered up for negotiation, nor part of the contested areas. Israel should stop annexing land to Jerusalem though. It looks like a ridiculous lizard now.
After 1948, the Arabs in Nazareth, in Haifa, and elsewhere were given automatic Israeli citizenship; the same should be applied to the Arabs of Jerusalem, just like the Arabs in Golan were given citizenship. They should have to go through the same curriculum as Israeli Arabs.
My understanding is that Jerusalem Arabs are not now1 given automatic citizenship, but merely residency.
This automatic citizenship was given to Golani Arabs, and Israeli Arabs, it should be given to Jerusalem Arabs also with the understanding that if they do not take it, they have to leave.
No oaths. Just automatic. Oaths will cause a furor. They are just given Israeli citizenship, and told that like or not, they have the obligations of an Israeli citizenship. Those who object can move to the other side of the wall.
That is my view.
@ Yidvocate:
True that!!!!!!!!! Thanks for the laugh.
@ NormanF:
Fear not. If history is any guide, the Arabs always come to the rescue and save us from ourselves.
Netanyahu is to the left of Labor in his devotion to Oslo and to the so-called two state solution. He has never been a Jewish nationalist.
In his first term, he gave up half of Hebron to the Arabs at Wye and his second term, he instigated the settlement freeze to advance partition of the Land Of Israel. With Jerusalem, he wants to avoid offending the Europeans and the Americans.
As to whether he can get what he wants, that isn’t so much dependent on whether a palace revolt happens inside the Likud but whether the Arabs will go along with him. So far they have refused to make his life easier. Perhaps that should be seen as a blessing in disguise since internal Israeli opposition is unlikely to lead him to change course and stop trying to pursue an impossible peace agreement.
In short, people are advised to follow what Netanyahu does not what he says. At the moment, the direction of his policies is clear enough.