SETTLEMENT CONSTRUCTION
Israel approves housing plan in Jerusalem
Jerusalem’s mayor declares a ‘new era’ following eight years of Obama pressure to freeze settlement building
Jerusalem/Ramallah — US President Donald Trump is already looming large over some of the most contentious issues dividing Israelis and Palestinians, emboldening some Israeli officials to make moves that threaten to reignite violence and dim the prospect of reviving peace efforts ever further. Two days after his inauguration, the Jerusalem municipality approved delayed plans to build hundreds of apartments in the eastern sector of the city that Palestinians claim for a future capital. Mayor Nir Barkat, echoing the relief of many Israeli officials, declared the dawn of a "new era" following eight years of "pressure from the Obama administration" to freeze settlement building it saw as hindering Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking. Israel has also embraced Trump’s declared plan to relocate the US embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, a move from which other presidents have shied. Sensing he is more amenable to settlement construction than his predecessors, some ministers are promoting legisl...
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