JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel’s interior minister met with the U.S. deputy national security adviser charged with Israel policy.
The meeting Wednesday of Eli Yishai, who also heads Israel’s religious Shas Party, and Dan Shapiro was to get acquainted, a U.S. official told JTA. Shapiro told Yishai they should keep in touch.
Yishai’s ministry approved the construction of a large housing project in eastern Jerusalem’s Ramat Shlomo neighborhood during a visit last month by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden. Yishai stood behind the decision, although the announcement precipitated weeks of tensions between the United Sattes and Israel.
Meanwhile, a meeting Thursday of the Jerusalem municipality’s Local Planning and Building Committee is expected to discuss some small housing projects in Jewish neighborhoods of eastern Jerusalem, according to the Jerusalem Post. The committee has not talked about construction in eastern Jerusalem since Biden’s visit, when consideration of construction projects in the area was unofficially frozen.
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