BICOM

An Interior Ministry committee yesterday approved 1,100 new housing units to be built in the Gilo neighbourhood in southeast Jerusalem. The plan, approved by the Jerusalem regional planning and construction committee, will include the construction of small housing units, a boardwalk, public buildings, a school and an industrial zone. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Jerusalem Post that the building project was “nothing new”. “We plan in Jerusalem. We build in Jerusalem. Period. The same way Israeli governments have been doing for 44 years, since the end of the 1967 war,” Netanyahu said.

The US State Department responded quickly to the decision saying that they consider the move “counterproductive to our efforts to resume direct negotiations between the parties”. Meanwhile, EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton called on Israel to reverse the decision, calling it a dangerous unilateral step. British Foreign Secretary William Hague also condemned the announcement.

It is anticipated by previous peace proposals, such as the Geneva Accords, that Gilo will remain part of Israel in a final status agreement, even if the city is shared. It is a consensus view in Israel that Gilo should stay part of Israel.