Tel-Chai Nation

Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat visited Washington DC, and made clear that housing construction in Jerusalem will continue uninterrupted:

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat is in Washington this week to meet with senior United States officials. In a news conference held during his tour, Barkat took a firm stance on the Obama administration's pressure to stop building houses for Jews in eastern Jerusalem, saying a construction freeze would be “illegal”.

“There's no freeze... We're going to build, and we're not going to stop it,” Barkat told reporters. “It is illegal to stop it.”

One other reason why? Because it'd be trampling upon the rights of private investors too, who have every right to earn a living with their own construction projects.

Barkat added that the Jerusalem municipality will not change its planning process despite the diplomatic incident regarding Ramat Shlomo. The city will continue to approve construction without involving the prime minister, he said. “It doesn't work like that,” he said. “Each of us has his own authority and his own decisions to make.”

During his visit Barkat met with several US lawmakers, among them House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and House Republican Whip Eric Cantor. Cantor backed Barkat's statement that Jerusalem will remain Israel's united capital, and said that both Democrats and Republicans back that view, despite the position taken by Obama and his staff.

Point here: municipal heads have their own authority and right to deal with local issues, construction included, and higher ranking government cannot monopolize this.

Labels: Israel, Jerusalem, United States