Israel gives go-ahead for 1600 east Jerusalem settler homes

Israel’s Interior Minister Eli Yishai has given the go-ahead for the construction of 1,600 new settler homes in east Jerusalem, an official said Thursday.

Reuters/Ammar Awad

According to ministry spokesperson Roei Lachmanovich, final approval has been given for the 1,600 new houses and the construction of a further 2,700 houses in two other east Jerusalem suburbs is expected soon.

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The decision has sparked a furious reaction from Palestinians and is likely to anger the Middle East Quartet as it struggles to relaunch peace talks in a Palestinian bid for UN recognition of a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital.

Lachmanovich urged President Barack Obama to reconsider the US position.

The go-ahead for buildings in Ramat Shlomo and Har Homa come as the EU is pressuring the Quartet to draft a new framework for peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

The 1,600-house project in Ramat Shlomo has already caused a diplomatic rift between Israel and Washington.

The interior ministry first announced it in March 2010, as US Vice-President Joe Biden visited Israel and the Palestinian territories to lay the groundwork for new direct peace talks between the two sides.