A significant portion of the new Jewish neighborhood in Givat Hamatos, one of the new eastern Jerusalem projects announced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the wake of the Palestinian Authority’s decision to unilaterally seek non-member observer state status at the UN, has been rejected by the Jerusalem municipality.
According to reports, the reason for the rejection was bureaucratic, not political. City officials said the new project to build some of the 6,500 new apartments slated for Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, lacked good urban planning and proper notification to neighbors.
On Monday, 1500 apartments were approved for the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood of Jerusalem, and on Wednesday, the city’s Local Committee is expected to give approval to 2,610 apartments in another area of Givat HaMatos.
Gilo is expected to receive approval for approximately 1,000 homes on Thursday.