JERUSALEM (JTA) — A Jerusalem municipal committee approved housing units in Jewish and Arab neighborhoods in eastern Jerusalem over the Green Line demarcating the pre-1967 borders.
On Sunday, the city’s planning and building committee on Sunday approved the future construction of 566 housing units in the Pisgat Zeev, Ramot and Ramat Shlomo neighborhoods. Another 105 housing units were approved for the Palestinian neighborhoods of Wadi Joz and Beit Hanina, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat told Israel Radio.
The approvals, which start a process that can take up to several years, have been delayed a couple of times from 2014. They were scheduled for a vote in December, but committee chairman Meir Turgeman told Israel Radio that the vote was postponed until the end of the Obama administration and the inauguration of President Donald Trump, who is perceived by Israeli leaders as more supportive of settlement construction.
Barkat told Israel Radio that he hopes thousands more housing units in Jerusalem will receive approvals over the next year.
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