Gov't approves large housing project for Jerusalem Arabs

The Regional Planning Committee at the Interior Ministry approves a master plan for the construction of thousands of homes for the Arab population in the a-Sawahara neighborhood of East Jerusalem.

As part of the program, 2,200 new homes will be built, and several hundred houses — which were built without permits — will be retroactively approved.

The decision was passed, Ynet reports, despite a significant effort by right-wing activists to nix the plan. Jerusalem Municipality council member Aryeh King, a radical right-wing activist, sent Interior Minister Gilad Erdan a letter in which he claimed the plan was not fully thought-out and that construction on the ground will widely exceed the details of the plan.