Speaking in the Knesset on Wednesday, Interior Minister Eli Yishai spoke against discriminatory enforcement of construction laws against the Jewish-owned Beit Yehonatan.
Beit Yehonatan is a five and a half-story building in the eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Kfar Shiloach (Silwan), near Ir David (City of David) and the Temple Mount. It does not have the proper authorization for all of its floors, putting it in a similar category as hundreds of illegal Arab buildings nearby. Despite this, the State Prosecution has ordered that only Beit Yehonatan be razed. Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat has refused to implement what he calls a discriminatory approach.
Minister Yishai, not for the first time, came to Barkat’s defense in the Knesset. “I am willing to increase the construction proportions in the municipal areas,” he said. “Let no one say that the Arabs don’t build tall buildings; Ramallah and Gaza have plenty of tall buildings. Everyone [both Jews and Arabs] will benefit from the permission to build tall buildings, subject to the zoning plans. But I won’t allow illegal construction, and the mayors must enforce this.”
“Beit Yehonatan is in the midst of a judicial process, and all illegal buildings must be dealt with in the same way," said Yishai, the leader of the Shas Party. "If there is a need to approve illegal construction retroactively, then it must be the same law for all. No one can say that they will demolish here but not here. It must be equally enforced. I have no problem approving retroactively, but it must be for all.”