Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Eli Yishai is working to put Jerusalem construction back on the short term agenda. Every since the incident, the announced approval of 1,600 housing units in Ramat Shlomo during the visit of US Vice President Joe Biden, sensitive projects have been pushed aside by the district planning board, apparently a response to the political storm that resulted following the announcement.

According to a letter sent from Interior Ministry Director-General Gabi Maimon to Ruth Yosef, who heads the planning committee, Yishai is seeking to bring the matter of construction in the eastern capital back to the current agenda.

Maimon added on the other hand, in the future, plans pertaining to sensitive projects, i.e., those that are contrary to the agenda of the United States and European nations, must first pass through his office for approval, apparently seeking to prevent another embarrassing situation that led to a diplomatic row with Israel’s strongest ally.

Ro’i Lachmanovitch, a spokesman for Yishai, refused comment.

In a related matter, the Ministerial Committee on Legislative Affairs passed a directive after the Ramat Shlomo incident demanding that a representative of the Prime Minister’s Office become involved in the decision-making process pertaining to such sensitive projects.

In a contradictory report released by Haaretz, quoting Jerusalem Councilman Meir Margalit of the left-wing Meretz Party, the councilman is quoted as saying senior city officials “intimately involved” with building projects told him personally that the Prime Minister’s Office has ordered a cessation of construction in the capital as a result of mounting pressure from the White House.

Margalit’s statements are in line with a recent Haaretz report, which stated new regulations regarding the district planning board, referring to the report above, were implemented and have resulted in a de facto Jerusalem construction freeze, even though the prime minister refuses to make a public statement confirming this new policy – seeking to placate the White House without compromising his political position among supporters.

The Haaretz report seems to follow through since the district planning committee does appear to have frozen projects in Ramat Shlomo and other areas viewed as “disputed” by the United States, in what the White House calls “occupied East Jerusalem”.

According to Margalit, it is not just that the projects are on hold, the committee that addresses these matters has stopped meeting, seeking to add a measure of validity to his report.

City Councilman Meir Turgeman, who is a member of the Interior Minister Housing Approval Committee, confirms that since the Biden incident, the committee has not even met to discuss projects. The last time the committee convened was on March 9th, when the Ramat Shlomo construction decision was approved, leading to the storm during the Biden visit.

It appears that the prime minister may have in actuality implemented a Jerusalem building freeze, but publically, seeking to save face, refuses to make such an announcement, hoping his actions and not his words will be sufficient to appease US President Barak Obama and bring PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) back to the negotiating table as America is demanding.

Update: Channel 2 Monday evening news reports that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu promised the White House to freeze construction in Ramat Shlomo.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)