Housing Minister Zeev Sharef defended the controversial Master Plan for rebuilding East Jerusalem and disputed Mayor Teddy Kollek’s authority to revise it, Sharef showed newsmen yesterday blueprints and models of the plan which as been sharply criticized by leading architects from Israel and abroad on grounds that it lacks aesthetic appeal and would destroy the unique character of Jerusalem. Sharef indicated that political considerations, not aesthetics, were the major factor behind the plan, which calls for up to 35,000 units for 122,000 persons. He said that in approving it he was guided by two principles-to maintain a Jewish majority in what are formerly the Arab section of Jerusalem and to keep the city unified. He claimed that not a single step, from requisitioning the plots to drawing the blueprints, was taken without the concurrence of Mayor Kollek and that if the Mayor dissented, he would bring the matter before the Cabinet. Sharef said that if the Government rejected Mayor Kollek’s views, he would introduce a bill in parliament to make the plan legal. Mayor Kollek has contended that the Master Plan was illegal because any construction within Jerusalem’s boundaries must conform to the municipality’s zoning laws.
(In Washington, State Department spokesman Robert J. McCloskey criticized the housing plan as unacceptable “unilateral action” that “would change the status of the city.” The project, he said, “could have an effect, and we have made this clear to the Israelis,”) One point of contention is a new suburb, Nebi Samwil, where the Master Plan calls for the construction of high rise dwellings to house a large population. Architects employed by the Housing Ministry have resigned, claiming that such buildings were suitable for the flat area around Tel Aviv but not for Jerusalem’s hilly landscape. Sharef said he wanted to settle as many Jews as possible in the new development area in the shortest possible time. He said the plan advanced by the Municipality would allow for an annual inflow of 1500 immigrants which he considered too few. He claimed that Jerusalem should be able to absorb between 10-15 percent of the 50,000 immigrants arriving annually and predicted a population of 275,000 Jews and 90,000 Arabs by 1975.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
