Construction of solo Jewish building in East Jerusalem gets the nod

The Jerusalem municipality approved construction of a Jewish-owned building in the Arab neighborhood of Silwan in East Jerusalem on Wednesday, even as permits for nearly 500 settler homes were delayed ahead of a major speech on Mideast peace by US Secretary of State John Kerry.

The site of the new building is owned by the Ateret Cohanim organization, a group dedicated to solidifying a Jewish presence in predominantly Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem.

The three-story housing project is located near Beit Yonatan, a seven-story building built without permits in 2002, which houses 11 Jewish families. Approval for the construction — requested by Ateret Cohanim — has been delayed several times.

Palestinians have decried the influx of Jewish Israelis into Silwan, accusing them of seeking to push them out of their own neighborhood.

The delay in issuing permits for the hundreds of settler homes came at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request, in order to avoid further conflict with Washington before Kerry’s speech, an Israeli official said.

Discussion on the homes was also dropped from the agenda following last week’s UN Security Council resolution demanding a halt to Israeli settlement building.

Hanan Rubin, a Jerusalem city councilor and a member of the planning committee that was to discuss the permits, told AFP its members had been informed of Netanyahu’s request by the committee chairman.

“We were told by the chairman… that it was pulled at the request of the prime minister so we can avoid a conflict with the US government just before Kerry’s speech tonight,” Rubin said.

Netanyahu’s spokesman declined to comment.

Rubin said the committee had been planning to vote on permits for the 492 units in the Ramat Shlomo and Ramot settlement neighborhoods of East Jerusalem.

He said the plans would be brought forward at a later date, though it was unclear when.