Defiant Israel to approve several new settlements
'We remain unfazed by the UN vote, or by any other entity that tries to dictate what we do in Jerusalem.'
London: Despite a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements across the Green Line, Jerusalem’s planning committee is expected to approve the construction of hundreds of homes in east Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem Local Planning and Construction Committee is expected to approve permits to build 618 new homes in Jewish neighbourhoods across the Green Line, Haaretz reported.
According to other Israeli media reports, the Committee might approve as many as 5,600 homes in response to the United Nations Security Council resolution which condemned Israeli settlement activities and called for a halt to illegal construction.
“We remain unfazed by the UN vote, or by any other entity that tries to dictate what we do in Jerusalem. I hope the Israeli government and the new US administration will support us, so we can make up for the lack [of construction] during the eight years of the Obama administration,” Deputy Jerusalem Mayor Meir Turgeman who heads the zoning committee told Israel Hayom.
Israel pressed forward with promises of retaliation and damage control following the UN vote on an anti-settlement resolution, which passed thanks to an abstention by the US, a close ally. Israel had summoned the ambassadors of countries who voted in favour of the resolution, including those from the permanent members of the Security Council.