News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Minister of Housing Ze'ev Boim has given the go-ahead for a new Jewish neighborhood near Atarot in eastern Jerusalem, despite US protests that Israel is not to implement any more building projects in the area.

The new neighborhood, in an area near the Kalandia checkpoint and the Separation Wall which includes the area of the abandoned Atarot Airport, will contain more than 10,000 apartments, making it the largest Jewish neighborhood in eastern Jerusalem. The zone is included in regions which were annexed to Israel following the Six Day War, and is part of lands which were owned by Jews before the establishment of the State of Israel. Boim is awaiting permission from the Israel Lands Authority (ILA) for the project.  The ILA says it plans on approving a permit.

Earlier this month, international attention was drawn to the region as the US and the PLO mutually condemned Israel's plans to build 300 apartments in the Har Homa neighborhood. According to a plan drafted by Vice Premier Haim Ramon, however, Atarot would be gifted to the PLO as part of a new Arab state.