Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he “did not accept” the US’ harsh criticism over Israeli building plans in East Jerusalem. The city’s mayor pledged to go on with the controversial project.
Washington warned that Israel’s plan to construct 2,600 homes in
East Jerusalem was at odds with attempts at peaceful settlement
of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and could lead to Tel Aviv
finding itself alienated from “even its closest allies.”
US warns Israel against building new settlements
in E. Jerusalem
“I don’t understand this criticism, and I don’t accept this
position,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted to the
accusations, voiced on Wednesday by US State Department
spokeswoman Jen Psaki and later repeated by White House Press
Secretary Josh Earnest.
“It’s worth learning the information properly before deciding to take a position like that,” the PM added, as cited by the Times of Israel. “Arabs in Jerusalem purchase homes freely in the west of the city and nobody says that’s forbidden. I don’t intend to tell Jews that they can’t buy homes in East Jerusalem.”
In one of its most strongly-worded statements targeting Israel,
the US State Department said the construction project
“poisoned the atmosphere” of Israel’s relations with the
Palestinians and with other Arab states as well.
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat responded by saying he would not
apologize for the project and would go on with its
implementation.
"I say this firmly and clearly: building in Jerusalem is not
poisonous and harmful – rather, it is essential, important and
will continue with full force,” Barkat said on Thursday as
cited by the Jerusalem Post. “I will not freeze construction
for anyone in Israel's capital. Discrimination based on religion,
race or gender is illegal in the United States and in any other
civilized country."
The plan for building 2,600 apartments in Givat HaMatos
neighborhood in the Palestinian part of Jerusalem, had been
agreed upon two years ago, but it was not until September, 2014,
that it received final approval.
The project came under the international spotlight after it was
publicized by Peace Now, an NGO campaigning for a two-state
solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Peace Now released
the news on the project hours before Netanyahu’s meeting with the
US president in Washington.
The group said in its Wednesday statement that the Givat HaMatos
project “divides the potential Palestinian state and blocks
the possibility to connect the Palestinian neighborhoods in south
Jerusalem with the future Palestinian state.”
“Netanyahu continues his policy to destroy the possibility of
a two state solution. He is doing so in the West Bank, and he is
doing so in East Jerusalem."
The Israeli PM has in his turn accused the group of the timing of
their news release on the project, which he believes was intended
at harming Israel’s relations with Washington.