Officials close to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu have offered right-wing leaders a deal, including construction of a new neighborhood in Jerusalem, aimed at forging a rightist alliance to ensure they clear the electoral threshold in the upcoming Knesset elections, according to a report by Israel Hayom.
The report claimed that the prime minister’s confidants told MK Bezalel Smotrich that if he forms an electoral alliance with the Jewish Home and Otzma Yehudit for the upcoming election, Netanyahu will “in exchange” grant approval for the construction of housing units in Atarot.
Atarot, an area in northern Jerusalem which was formerly the site of a pre-state Jewish town, has long been viewed as a possible location for a new residential neighborhood. The area is currently home to an industrial zone. Despite plans by previous governments to develop the area, no residential neighborhoods have been built in Atarot.
According to the report, some 9,000 housing units would be included in the new neighborhood. The neighborhood would be centered around the old Atarot airport, which has been closed for the past two decades.
Former Likud minister Ze’ev Elkin, who recently joined the New Hope party, accused Netanyahu of playing “petty politics”.
“And what will happen if the ‘stubborn’ Bezalel refuses to unite with Ben-Gvir? Then Netanyahu won’t allow construction in Jerusalem?”
“And here I am thinking that promoting construction in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, was an important matter in and of itself. But no, that’s also being turned into petty politics. Too bad.”
MK Ayelet Shaked of Yamina also responded to the report, saying: “If it is possible to build, build; don’t dictate terms – that’s what Biden is for.”