The Times of Israel reports: Israeli officials on Thursday gave final approval to build 153 housing units in East Jerusalem, two days after approving construction for some 2,500 homes in the West Bank, most in existing settlement blocs Israel hopes to keep in any peace deal with the Palestinians.
Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Meir Turgeman told AFP the approvals by a city planning committee for homes in the neighborhood of Gilo were among those held up due to US pressure during Barack Obama’s presidential term.
On Sunday, a Jerusalem planning committee approved the construction of 566 housing units in East Jerusalem, in the neighborhoods of Ramot, Ramat Shlomo and Pisgat Ze’ev, on the heels of a phone conversation earlier that day between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump, in which the two discussed their plans for the region.
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