Olmert To Approve Construction In Orthodox Jewish Community

Prime Monster Ehud Olmert will approve in the next number of days the construction of 800 new housing units in the Orthodox Jewish community of Beitar Illit, located in the Etzion Bloc to the south of Jerusalem, built on hills that Israel acquired after the 1967 war.
Olmert apprised the Shas Orthodox spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef of his decision in a telephone conversation the two men held on Monday.

Shas holds 12 of the 68 seats in Mr. Olmert's shaky coalition. An Israeli prime minister needs 61 seats to maintain a government, since the Knesset comprises 120 members.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, who was apprised of the development by journalists in Amman, Jordan, did not try to conceal her displeasure with Mr. Olmert's steps that did not help the peace process, as she said.

The Jerusalem municipality's District Committee for Planning and Construction on Monday approved the construction of 600 new housing units in Pisgat Zeev in northern Jerusalem. Relations between the Jerusalem municipality and the government became tense some two months ago following reports about delays in the development of Jerusalem neighborhoods that lie on the far side of the Green Line.

Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupoliansky issued a statement that was fiercely critical of Mr. Olmert. On Monday, he said that he believed that "in the wake of the prime minister's statement that construction in the neighborhoods of Jerusalem would continue, the government will not impose any delays on this plan."

The backdrop to the decision to launch the construction project is the severe lack of new apartments in Jerusalem.

That is why, in the past two years, a number of high-rise projects were approved for central Jerusalem, and the last remaining unbuilt land reserves in the city were rezoned so as to allow for construction. New possibilities for expansion were also examined. More