Trusting Trump, Israel approves more settlements in Jerusalem.
The Israeli government approved building permits on Sunday, January 22nd, for hundreds of homes in three settlements in East Jerusalem, two days after US President Donald Trump took office, and with expectations that he will back down from the Obama administration's criticism of such projects.
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The Israeli government on Sunday approved building permits for hundreds of homes in three settlements in East Jerusalem, two days after U.S. President Donald Trump took office, and in anticipation that he would back down from the Obama administration's criticism of such projects.
The housing projects, on land that Palestinians seek as part of a future state, had been removed from Jerusalem's municipal agenda at the last minute in December at the request of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to avoid further censure from the Obama administration.
Israel's right wing hopes that Trump's attitude toward settlements built in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, areas captured by Israel in the 1967 war, will be far more supportive than that of his predecessor.
Netanyahu said he would have his first conversation with Trump since taking office, by phone this Sunday. "Many issues concern us, the Israeli-Palestinian issue, the situation in Syria, the Iranian threat," he said at the start of his weekly cabinet meeting.
The Jerusalem municipality has approved building permits for more than 560 units in the urban settlements of Pisgat Zeev, Ramat Shlomo, and Ramot, areas annexed to Jerusalem in a move not recognized internationally.
Meir Turgeman, executive chairman of the city's Planning and Construction Committee, told Radio Israel that the permits had been lifted by the end of the Obama administration.
"I was advised to wait for Trump to take office, as he has no problem with construction in Jerusalem," Turgeman said, adding that there were hundreds of new units awaiting approval.
Palestinians denounced the measure. "We strongly condemn the Israeli decision to approve construction," Nabil Abu Rdainah, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, told Reuters.
In its final weeks, the Obama administration angered the Israeli government by withholding a traditional US veto of an anti-settlement UN Security Council resolution, allowing the measure to pass.
Trump's nomination of Nikki Haley as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations echoed his condemnation of the world body regarding its treatment of Israel during her Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday.
In a proposal that led to Palestinian protests, Trump also promised to move the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Israel considers all of Jerusalem its capital, but most of the world does not, viewing its ultimate status as an issue for peace negotiations. Palestinians have said that moving the embassy would end any prospects for peace. Negotiations broke down in 2014.
Trump also appointed a new US ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, who is considered a supporter of the settlements.
Most countries consider the settlements an illegal activity and an obstacle to peace. Israel disagrees, citing a biblical, historical, and political connection to the land—which the Palestinians also claim—as well as security interests.