Jerusalem’s city council confirmed on Wednesday that it has granted building permits for 184 new housing units in Jewish areas of East Jerusalem, the Associated Press reported.
Israel moved forward with plans to build the new homes in annexed East Jerusalem, according to a Jerusalem city councilor. The plans would see construction of 40 new homes in Pisgat Ze’ev and 146 in Har Homa, both highly populated Jewish neighborhoods.
The issued building permits are the end result of a lengthy approval process. Construction is expected to begin over the next several weeks.
Some 550,000 Israelis live in Judea, Samaria and East Jerusalem. These areas are highly contested as the Palestinians want them as part of a future state, along with the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians have continually viewed settlement construction as a sign of bad faith and used settlement construction as a lighting rod for condemnation of Israel.
Israel considers East Jerusalem, which it captured in the 1967 war, as part of its capital, and says that it is trying to build more housing for its citizens.
The move comes as the United States is pressuring both Israel and the Palestinians to accept U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s framework for peace which would extend negotiations beyond the April deadline.
The Palestinians are reportedly only willing to extend talks if Israel freezes construction in the settlements and commits to releasing more security prisoners. PA officials have said that the Palestinians are seeking the freedom of Marwan Barghouti, who is serving multiple life sentences for his role in numerous murders of Israelis as well as orchestrating countless terror attacks. The PA is adamant that future peace talks will be contingent on Barghouti’s release.
Under heavy U.S. pressure, Israel and the Palestinians restarted negotiations last July, setting a nine-month target for wrapping up a comprehensive peace deal establishing a Palestinian state and ending a century of conflict. After realizing this was unrealistic, Kerry scaled back his ambitions and said he would aim for a “framework” peace deal by the April deadline. That too now seems to be in question.
As the April deadline looms, and the Palestinians remain unwilling to meet Israel’s most basic demand for recognition, it seems unlikely that Kerry will attain his goals, or that Israel will acquiesce to any of the Palestinian demands.
