Jerusalem Councilman Yair Gabbai demands equal treatment for Jewish neighborhoods in both western and eastern Jerusalem.
A new Jewish neighborhood in eastern Jerusalem, just a mile away from the Western Wall, has been stopped by the city’s legal counsel, Attorney Yossi Havilio. He ordered all budgeting for the Kidmat Zion project stopped on the grounds that it “paves the way for construction violations.”
In a letter to Havilio, councilman Gabbai writes, “It is unacceptable to have construction of a Jewish neighborhood in the eastern part of the city banned because of supposed legal concerns of this nature, while in [western Jerusalem neighborhood] Rehavia, building is allowed under the same circumstances.”
Gabbai, a member of the city’s National Religious Party faction, threatens to hold up all construction in Rehavia on the grounds that it “paves the way for construction violations,” until the ban is removed from Kidmat Zion.
“Of course we do not object to construction in Rehavia,” Gabbai explained to Arutz-7, “but we demand that Havilio give equal treatment to all. Just as he allows such plans in Rehavia, he must do the same for Kidmat Zion.”
Gabbai said that he has already received a response from Havilio, saying, “I will look into the points you raise.”
Kidmat Tziyon is a Jewish project on Jewish-owned land within Jerusalem borders in the Arab-populated neighborhood of Abu Dis, which is mostly outside Jerusalem’s borders. Six families currently live there, but plans for 230 housing units have now been put on hold by Havilio.