Aides to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Thursday that the two were not informed of a recent decision to approve construction in the Atarot neighborhood of Jerusalem.  A senior official quoted in Haaretz called the construction plan “a terrible decision” due to ongoing talks with the Palestinian Authority, which claims Atarot and other Jerusalem neighborhoods as Arab land.

Housing Minister Ze'ev Boim, whose office approved the construction plan, has released a statement claiming there are no plans to build a Jewish neighborhood in Atarot.  The plan calls for the construction of 10,000 housing units.