’Israel’ Waiting for Obama to Leave Office before Resuming Settlement Building

Local Editor

"Israeli" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved on Tuesday the marketing of 454 housing units in northern East al-Quds [Jerusalem].

The settling units in the settlements of Ramat Shlomo and Ramot are in the final stages of tenders for plans that had been approved for years.

In addition, 1,500 settlement units in Ramat Shlomo will be put back on the agenda for the Local Committee on Planning to discuss continuing the construction process.

In recent weeks, Netanyahu had instructed to freeze all East al-Quds building, ahead of his meeting in Washington with US President Barack Obama last week.

"Israel's" Army Radio reported two weeks ago that the Municipality of al-Quds [Jerusalem] had suspended all construction on the eastern side of the capital.

However, an official from the Prime Minister's Office told i24news that "the Prime Minister has nothing to do with the decision to freeze East al-Quds [Jerusalem] construction, it is a decision made purely by the al-Quds [Jerusalem] Municipality and its planning committees"

The announcement of the marketing in Ramat Shlomo and Ramot comes as Netanyahu was quoted as saying earlier this week that the "Israeli" regime will resume construction in "Israeli" settlements in the beseiged West Bank after Obama's departure from the White House.

According to "Israeli" MK Nissan Slomiansky, Netanyahu wanted to reassure the party's members that the government is interested in building in al-Quds with the exclusion of the Eastern part and the occupied West Bank.

"There is still building by private citizens throughout our country, but all public construction works have been frozen by the prime minister," Slomiansky said.

"The prime minister has explained to us in the party that there is a problem," the MK said. "Let's wait until Obama steps down, until there's a new president."

Netanyahu told attendees at the World Zionist Conference in al-Quds last month that there has been less construction of settler units outside the green line under his administration in comparison to the administrations of Ehud Olmert, Ariel Sharon and Ehud Barak.

The Prime Minister emphasized that some Palestinians also believe that Tel-Aviv and other cities inside the green line are settlements.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team