By Xinhua,
Jerusalem : Israel has decided to build tens of thousands of new apartments in Jerusalem, including a couple of thousand in Jewish neighborhoods in the eastern part of the city, the Jerusalem municipality said Sunday.
The building proposal, which won city approval earlier this year, has been authorized by Israeli Interior Ministry’s building and planning committee, local daily the Jerusalem Post reported, citing Jerusalem Municipality spokesman Gidi Schmerling.
The proposed construction is part of a long-term city building plan which will witness the construction of 40,000 new apartments throughout the city over the next decade, including a couple of thousand in Jewish neighborhoods of east Jerusalem such as Gilo and Ramot, areas built after the 1967 Six Day War without recognition of the international community.
Israel differentiates between construction in east Jerusalem and building in the West Bank, but the international community does not make such a distinction and views both as settlements, said the Jerusalem Post.
The announcement came just as visiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was pressing Israel to stop construction in east Jerusalem during her latest peace mission in Israel.
Rice, who arrived in Israel Saturday night to give another push for the sluggish peace process between the Jewish state and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), said Israel’s continued settlement building could hurt Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.
Upon her arrival at Tel Aviv Saturday, Rice slashed Israel’s latest announcement of a plan to build 1,300 houses for Jewish settlers in east Jerusalem, saying the “problem” is “simply not helpful to build confidence” between Israel and the PNA.
Rice added that she will discuss with every Israeli official on the new expansion plan, in which Israel has green lighted over 3,000 houses since the renewal of the peace talks late last year in the Holy City, which Palestinians claim as their future capital.
In response to Rice’s words, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s spokesman Mark Regev said “it is clear to everyone that the Jewish neighborhoods of Jerusalem will remain part of Israel in any possible final status agreement,” adding that building inside those Jewish neighborhoods in no way contradicts Israel’s commitment to move forward in the peace process.