Palestinians Say New E. Jerusalem Building Threatens Talks
Palestinian officials said Israel’s announcement of 240 new units in eastern Jerusalem was a further blow to renewed peace talks.
Israel’s housing ministry announced Friday that among 3,500 tenders throughout Israel, 240 were approved for units in Ramot and Pisgat Ze’ev, in Jerusalem’s north, Ha’aretz reported.
“The Netanyahu government is determined to thwart any chance of resuming direct negotiations,” Sa’eb Erekat, the top Palestinian negotiator said.
The announcement was the first major building start in eastern Jerusalem since an announcement in March of plans for 1,600 units during a visit by Vice President Joe Biden precipitated months of tensions between the Netanyahu and Obama administrations.
Israel has said it cannot and will not freeze building anywhere in Jerusalem.
The direct talks, launched under U.S. auspices on Sept. 2, came to a halt less than a month later after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to extend a 10-month partial freeze he had imposed on West Bank settlement building as a means to entice Palestinians to the talks.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
