Pinchas Buchris, Director of the Ministry of Defense, has ordered work halted on the security barrier in disputed areas of eastern Jerusalem. The construction will not be renewed before a court rules on a motion filed against the construction, according to MK Otniel Shneller (Kadima), who heads a Knesset committee that deals with the Defense Ministry’s budget.
Shneller toured the site of the disputed barrier on Friday with Jerusalem land activist Aryeh King, Chairman of the National Lands Fund and the representative of the Jewish owners of lands in the Shaar HaMizrach neighborhood. King petitioned the court in 2007 to order construction 
stopped because, he says, the planned route of the partition will leave Jewish property outside the fence despite the fact that it is within municipal boundaries.
In addition, he says, the territorial contiguity between Jerusalem and Ma’aleh Adumim will be cut off.
About three weeks ago, with the court decision only about two months away, heavy machinery showed up at the site and began accelerated construction of the barrier.
'National crime'
Shneller says that construction of the barrier at this time is a “national crime” and a “grave matter” because of the possibility that the court will decide to remove the barrier at that location. “We have been through the experience of construction and dismantling over and over,” he explains, noting that such scenarios cost the public coffers a lot of money.
The separation of Jerusalem from Maaleh Adumim “has no logic,” he adds. “There is a small strip of land connecting Jerusalem to Maaleh Adumim. There is no reason to seal it off,” he opines. Shneller said that Buchris was surprised to learn of the construction at the site and that his employees were given clear directions not to build the barrier in locations where the court had yet to decide whether to allow construction.