News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Prime Minister Ehud Olmert issued a letter to the housing, agriculture and defense ministers on Sunday, commanding them to cease authorization of any new construction projects or land tenders in Judea or Samaria without the direct prior approval of himself and Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

Olmert claimed that the order is in accordance with his statements prior to the US-sponsored Annapolis conference in which he promised not to build additional Jewish communities, and to expel Jews from unauthorized towns as per the Road Map plan of 2003.

The letter did not address construction projects in eastern Jerusalem such as the Har Homa or Atarot building projects currently under development by the Ministry of Housing, but said that the government must act "wisely and cautiously" regarding Israel's capital city.