It appears that despite harsh objections from US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Housing Minister Ze’ev Boim this week will announce continued construction in a number of areas in the capital. Many of the building tenders have already been approved. 763 units are slated for Pisgat Ze’ev, 121 in Har Choma and 286 in Betar Illit.

According to Betar Illit Mayor Meir Rubinstein, the approval for the badly-needed housing came only as a result of tenacious political pressure by the Shas and UTJ parties.

A total of 3,638 new housing units are planned in areas of the capital and surrounding areas including the Jerusalem neighborhoods of Gilo, Ramot and N’vei Yaakov.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)