News from Peace Now's (Israel) Settlement Watch:
This morning, tenders for 323 housing units in East Jerusalem were published:
89 units in Gilo
89 units in Gilo
36 units in Neve Yaacov
68 units in Pisgat Zeev
130 units in Har Homa
These tenders are for housing units that have been tendered in the past but were never built (the tender in Gilo
was published without dates and details so we cannot tell if these are new units or units that were tendered
before). Although the government tried to build these units in the past, it never did so and thus the government is
now initiating entirely new construction.
Peace Now: "the publication of tenders for 323 housing units a day after the home demolitions in Palestinian
neighborhoods in East Jerusalem is indicative of the government's policy: on the one hand the government does not
allow for Palestinian construction, and on the other hand it promotes massive construction for Israelis. Since 1967
the Israeli government initiated and planned the construction of 55,000 units for Israelis in East Jerusalem, and
at the same time planned and initiated only 700 units for Palestinians. The Netanyahu government decided to
repudiate the Quartet report and to prove, yet again, that it has no intention to promote a peace agreement based
on a two state solution."