Jerusalem Minister Meir Porush (United Torah Judaism) on Wednesday held a working meeting in his office to discuss the completion of the plan for the development of Jerusalem's Arab neighborhoods, ahead of the plan's expected approval.
As was agreed between the Jerusalem Ministry, Finance Ministry, and Prime Minister's Office, the decision will be approved in the next government meeting.
Participating in the meeting were officials from the Jerusalem Ministry, the Deputy Accountant for the Prime Minister's Office, the head of the staff charged with implementing the plan, and other professionals.
At the end of the meeting, Porush said, "Following the work of many long months, we are now reaching the finishing stages, with the submission of the plan to the government in the coming days. We are bringing it to be approved for a budget of over three billion shekel over a period of five years, about 50% more than the previous plan."
"The plan was prepared by the excellent professionals who are sitting here today, who worked in cooperation with all of the government ministries, foremost among them, obviously, the Finance Ministry, as well as with the Jerusalem municipality, in order to achieve the maximum budgets and ensure that they will be invested in the right places.
"Following a lengthy period of working behind the scenes, we see that the plan has received widespread public support, even if maybe not everything which was said is fully accurate. In any case, I praise the enormous interest in this important plan, and that the various government ministries, our partners in this program, have chosen to take an active role in its advancement.
"Investment in eastern Jerusalem is our obligation, as those who are entrusted with taking care of all those who are in our boundaries. This government, which places Jerusalem at the top of its priority list, as we saw in the list of important decisions which were made this past Jerusalem Day, sees a merit and an obligation to invest in all of Jerusalem's residents, without differentiating."