Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon
Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alonAriel Hermoni/Flash 90

Channel 10 News revealed Monday night that Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon cancelled a project, being developed under his tutelage, which would allow career combat soldiers and combat support to move to parts of Jerusalem beyond the 1949 Armistice Lines at discount prices.

The unprecedented project involved IDF soldiers moving into apartments near the Ramot neighborhood in Jerusalem at reduced prices. 

Sources involved in the project insist that the reason for it's cancellation is due to the location of the neighborhood and the possible policy implications of its implementation. 

Ya'alon's decision to cancel the project also aroused great surprise, as the Defense Minister himself pressed for the project to progress quickly, and even urged Housing Minister Uri Ariel (Jewish Home) to find and allocate space for the soldiers. 

The Defense Ministry sent a request about 9 months ago to the Finance Ministry for allocation of funds for the project. The Finance Minister only signed for the funds to be sent out on Thursday of last week. 

Ya'alon's office argued that the minister was aware of the accompanying policy statement for the project, and that the reason for the cancellation was the lack of demand on the part of the career soldiers themselves. 

However, sources involved with the project, spoke directly with Channel 10 News, and stated that the demand for the apartments in the project was "huge." 

They argue, instead, the cancellation is due to the controversial location of the designated neighborhood. 

If so, Ya'alon has certainly flip-flopped from the adamant stance he took in early October, where he stated at ceremony in memory of Israel’s fallen paratroopers, that Israel will continue to build anywhere in Jerusalem.  

"Jerusalem will forever remain the capital of Israel, the Jewish people's capital, the city that we will continue to build and develop without apologizing for it," he declared.

The army, for its part, has claimed that the project was rejected for financial reasons only.