Netanyahu: We will not restrict construction in Jerusalem

Israel has every right to build homes in its capital, Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of this week’s cabinet session on Sunday, following criticism from the European Union over new plans to construct 800 hew housing units in the Gilo neighborhood, which lies beyond the Green Line.

„It’s true we carry out construction in Jerusalem; we do not impose any restrictions on housing projects in our capital,” Netanyahu said „Just as [they] build in London, Paris, Washington and Moscow, we build in Jerusalem, and our bond with our capital is as ancient and as powerful [as other countries’ ties to their own capitals].”

Netanyahu echoed Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who on Saturday dismissed the EU’s disapproval of the Gilo construction as unwarranted interference with Israel’s domestic affairs. Lieberman told the 27-country EU bloc to attend to its own problems instead.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said on Friday that she „deeply regrets” Israel’s announcement of plans to expand Gilo, which was annexed to Jerusalem in after the 1967 Six-Day War. „Settlements are illegal under international law and threaten to make a two-state solution impossible,” she said, referring to more than two decades of efforts to negotiate the creation of a Palestinian state alongside the Jewish state.

Lieberman said in a statement immediately following Ashton’s comments that such automatic censures „attest to a fundamental lack of ability to understand regional reality” and „merely encourage the Palestinian side to continue to refuse to sit and negotiate, and to pursue anti-Israel activity in the international sphere.”

„Gilo is an inseparable part of Jerusalem,” Lieberman said, „and Jerusalem is an inseparable part of Israel. Anyone who wants to promote reaching an agreement [between Israel and the Palestinians] must focus on preventing such actions as those led by the Palestinian Authority chairman, and not on [preventing] construction of housing for peaceful citizens who are not disturbing anyone.”

Lieberman suggested that the EU „focus, for now, on the problems arising among the various peoples and national groups on Europe’s territory, and once there is a successful solution we would be happy to hear recommendations for solving the problems with the Palestinians.”

Lieberman’s criticism of the EU continued on Sunday morning in an interview with Army Radio: „People who have never visited Gilo don’t understand what it is. We expect a more in-depth and direct point of view from the EU, to maintain fairness and balance with respect to the State of Israel. To me it is clear, without preaching, that Gilo, where 33,000 Jews live just seven minutes drive from the Foreign Ministry, is an integral part of Jerusalem.”

Directing his response to Army Radio interviewer Razi Barkai, Lieberman continued: „Jerusalem is not a settlement. Perhaps it is a settlement for you.”

Lieberman also reiterated that Gilo was not negotiable and that generations of Israeli governments had built in the neighborhood.

„We talk a lot about red lines, and one of them is not to negotiate with anyone about Jerusalem. It is Israeli law; I respect the laws of Israel before I respect other laws.”

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat firmly rejected the EU’s condemnation, saying, „We will continue to build tens of thousands of apartments throughout the city and for all sectors. Only continued construction without compromise, as we are doing now, will lower housing prices and allow young people to live in Jerusalem and build the future.”

Likud MK Danny Danon said, „Just as Brussels is a Belgian city, Gilo is a legitimate neighborhood of Jerusalem, the capital of Israel.”

Israel has expressed concern over the Palestinians’ plan to sidestep the deadlocked talks by asking the U.N. next month to upgrade their member status, and has lobbied the Europeans and others to oppose the move.