Israel to build 77 colony homes in Jerusalem

LIKUD MOVE SIGNALS INCLINATION OF RIGHTWING COALITION GOVERNMENT

Israeli authorities invited tenders yesterday for the construction of 77 homes in colonist neighbourhoods of occupied east Jerusalem, colony watchdog Peace Now said.

Peace Now spokeswoman Hagit Ofran said it was the first such announcement in occupied east Jerusalem since a March 17 general election win by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rightwing Likud party.

The watchdog said 36 of them were being offered in Neve Yaakov and another 41 in neighbouring Pisgat Zeev. Both are located at the northern edge of east Jerusalem.

Peace Now said the tenders could be seen as a sign of the future inclinations of the rightwing religious coalition government that Netanyahu is currently putting together.

Things to come

“Publication of these tenders in east Jerusalem is liable to be an indicator from Netanyahu’s transitional government of what can perhaps be expected — God forbid — when the new government is formed,” it said.

“Instead of changing direction and showing that Israel is ready for peace, Netanyahu is sticking to the line he held during his election campaign and seeking to prevent the chance of peace.”

The day before the election, Netanyahu vowed that if reelected he would build thousands of colonist homes in occupied east Jerusalem to prevent future concessions to the Palestinians.

Israel seized east Jerusalem in the Six-Day War of 1967 and later annexed it in a move never recognised by the international community. The Jewish state refers to both halves of the city as its “united, undivided capital” and does not see construction in the eastern sector as colony building.

The Palestinians want the eastern sector of the city as the capital of their future state, but successive Israeli leaders have vowed that will never happen.

“I won’t let that happen. My friends and I in Likud will continue to build in Jerusalem, we will add thousands of housing units, and in the face of all the (international) pressure, we will persist and continue to develop our eternal capital,” Netanyahu said during a March 16 visit to the contentious colony neighbourhood of Har Homa.