End Times Watch 112
Jerusalem Construction Will Go On

Netanyahu: 'Jerusalem construction will go on' –www.jpost.com

End times watch 112.  Despite R. Shlomo crisis, PM says Israel will continue to build in all parts of the capital.  

While the United States continued to criticize Israel over an east Jerusalem housing project approved during US Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Israel least week, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday said construction in the capital would continue as usual.

"Construction in Jerusalem will continue in any part of the city as it has during the last 42 years," Netanyahu stressed at the Likud faction meeting.

"In the past 40 years, there was no government that limited construction in any Jerusalem area or neighborhood," Netanyahu said. "Establishing Jewish neighborhoods did not hurt Jerusalem's Arab residents and was not at their expense."

The prime minister said Israel was committed to the 10-month building moratorium in the West Bank.

In the US, however, Israel's Ambassador to Washington Michael Oren said the crisis over the approval of 1,600 new housing units in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood was "the worst since 1975."

Earlier Monday, at the Labor faction meeting, Defense Minister Ehud Barak also referred to the crisis with Washington, saying that "the government must work so the crisis will be forgotten and the talks get back on track," and explaining how he was working to decrease the tensions.

"I just had a meeting at the Knesset with Fred Hoff, aide to [US special Mideast envoy George] Mitchell, an American diplomat who has been working with us for many years, as well as with US Ambassador to Israel James Cunningham."

 Barak told the faction that, "we discussed the necessary steps and possible ways to abate the recent tensions and resume the negotiations with the Palestinians."

The negotiations, Barak said, are "supremely needed and are an issue that Labor believes in. It's one of the reasons we are in the government."

Return FROM: End Times Watch 112 TO: End Times Watch Home

GO TO: sitemap