Marking Jerusalem Day, government approves East Jerusalem ‘sovereignty plan’

At a celebratory Jerusalem Day cabinet meeting held at the capital’s Bible Lands Museum, the cabinet approves a series of programs aimed at “deepening sovereignty” in East Jerusalem, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying that government plans to “​build up and develop Jerusalem, east and west, north and south.”

The proposals given the go-ahead by the government include plans to formalize land ownership claims in East Jerusalem, claimed by Palestinians as the capital of a future Palestinian State; transfer Palestinian schools in the area to the Israeli curriculum; invest massive funds into developing increasingly Jewish areas of the majority Arab populated Old City and Mount of Olives; and build a cable car from West Jerusalem to the Western Wall.

In total, the plans are estimated at some NIS 2 billion ($500 million).

​”​It is not for nothing that we are marking Jerusalem Day today at the Bible Lands Museum​. ​Jerusalem is mentioned in the Bible approximately 650 times. The reason is simple: For over 3,000 years it has been the capital of our people, and only of our people. We dreamed of returning to rebuild it, the city that is joined together – this is exactly what we are doing today​, ” Netanyahu tells ministers.​”

“​We will make a series of decisions to​ ​build up and develop Jerusalem, east and west, north and south, in all directions – to both reveal its past and build its future. I know that there will be difficulties along the way; there have been difficulties for the past 70 years. We have met them since 1949 and up to recent years. We will also meet them in the future​,” he says.

— Raoul Wootliff