The Jerusalem City Council recently discussed making 24 lots
available for the construction of botei knesses around
the city.
The city also wants to allocate lots for educational
institutions, such as Talmud Torah Tshechnov, Yedid David and
Shir Chodosh. During the past two months, the lots have been
approved for these uses by the Locating Committee and the
Distributing Committee. All that remains is final approval by
the City Council.
The neighborhoods slated for the construction of botei
knesses include Ramot Gimmel, Har Choma, Pisgat Ze'ev,
Pisgat Ze'ev Mizrach, Gilo, Makor Chaim, Gonen, Neveh Yaakov
Mizrach and Sanhedria. Religious facilities will be built in
the German Colony, Ramot and Ramat Shlomo.
City spokesmen said that recently the demand for religious
facilities has increased around the city, partly due to the
rate of natural increase, but also due to shifts in the
composition of the population in several neighborhoods where
the number of chareidi residents has increased.
Rabbi Yitzchok Hanau, director of the Department of Religious
Facilities, said Mayor Rabbi Uri Lupoliansky has been working
hard over the past months to allow the chareidi, religious
and traditional sectors to make use of these lots, which are
zoned as public facilities in the Urban Construction Plan.
