Tel-Chai Nation

Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat has criticized the Obama administration for its condemnation of the E1 project:

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat on Monday slammed the Obama Administration for once again pressuring Israel over where it can and cannot build in and around its own capital city.

"I don't know of any city in the world whose regulator is the US president," Barkat said during a conference in Herzliya on affordable housing.

Barkat was responding to American criticism over Israel's approval this week of long-standing plans to expand the Jerusalem suburb of Ma'aleh Adumim to the adjacent hill known as "E1".

Israel finally approved the plans as punitive action for the Palestinian Authority's unilateral effort to receive official recognition at the UN.

But Barkat said the planned construction has been and remains crucial to providing affordable housing in the capital, which is Israel's most densely populated city.

And on top of all that, it's Jewish land, and our decision to make about building it.

Labels: anti-semitism, dhimmitude, islam, Israel, Jerusalem, United States