Israel has approved of 2500 new settlement homes in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) after a phone call with Trump, with over 500 of those homes in East Jerusalem:
סיכמתי עם שר הביטחון על בנייה של 2,500 יחידות דיור ביהודה ושומרון. אנחנו בונים – ונמשיך לבנות
— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) January 24, 2017
The tweet translate to: “I agreed with the defense minister on the construction of 2,500 housing units in Judea and Samaria. We build – and we will continue to build.”
Watch:
Israel approves 2,500 new housing units in West Bank settlements — @OrenCNN says it's a response to President Trump https://t.co/KNuZaFtkqE
— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) January 24, 2017
Here’s more:
TIMES OF ISRAEL – Israel approved the construction of approximately 2,500 homes in the West Bank, most of them in existing settlement blocs, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman announced on Tuesday.
The decision came two days after a Jerusalem planning committee approved the construction of 566 housing units in East Jerusalem, and on the heels of a phone conversation on Sunday between Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump, in which the two discussed their plans for the region.
Most of the housing units will be built in the large settlement areas, notably in the city of Ariel and in Givat Ze’ev, outside Jerusalem. But some will also go up in settlements outside the larger blocs, due to prior agreements and court decisions.
“We’re building — and will continue to build,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, following the announcement.
“It will be one of the largest industrial zones in the West Bank, in which we are planning to set up warehouse and fuel storage infrastructure, along with other elements,” Liberman’s office said in a statement.
In the Jerusalem area, some 652 housing units were approved for the Givat Ze’ev settlement, 104 in Maale Adumim and four in Har Gilo.
On Sunday, the Jerusalem Municipality approved the construction of 566 new homes in East Jerusalem, in a vote that had been pushed back from December in order to avoid angering the outgoing administration of former US president Barack Obama. The Palestinians condemned the decision as an explicit violation of a recent anti-settlement resolution at the United Nations.
I wish they hadn’t pushed back that vote but I can understand why. Either way, I’m glad they finally approved the construction in East Jerusalem.