The Jerusalem Municipality's zoning plan for the southern part of the Old City can be brought before the District Committee for Construction and Planning, the Jerusalem Court for Administrative Matters determined Wednesday. The court rejected a motion by radical leftist NGO Ir Amim 'City of Nations' against the plan.
The municipality has drawn up a plan that would retroactively give legal status to most of the 200-odd illegally built Arab houses in the Shiloach (Silwan) area, which includes the historic King's Garden that served Kings David and Solomon – the most illustrious kings in the history of the Jewish people. In addition, it is meant to grant legal status to a single building that is inhabited by Jews, Beir Yehonatan. In order to avoid a confrontation with the Arabs, Mayor Nir Barkat and his advisers came up with a plan that would make all buildings up to four stories high legal and involve relocation of some of the illegal homes in the King's Garden.
Judge Nava Ben-Or ruled that the petitioners' objections to the plan's substance would be discussed in the District Planning Committee, while their claims regarding improper bureaucratic handling of the matter should not be discussed in the court but in other forums.
Attorney Mordechai Berkovich, who represented the municipality, told the court that the city's plan is a good one that provides a proper solution for the Arab residents' needs, and that there is no proof or evidence that the plan is biased or detrimental to the residents. Berkovich said that the central motivation for the motion was a political one and that the matter does not belong in a court of law.
The judge accepted the municipality's position. The plan may therefore be submitted to the District Planning Committee, but this will probably not happen soon because Mayor Barkat promised the Prime Minister Tuesday that he would postpone implementation of the plan.
The municipality stated nonetheless that the verdict gives an additional boost to Mayor Barkat's planning policy for eastern Jerusalem.