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NEWS
Jerusalem Municipality Advances 20,000 Housing Units on
Southern and Northern Edges of the City
By Betzalel Kahn
Some 20,000 new apartment units are slated for construction
in the coming years within Jerusalem in order to strengthen
the Jewish majority in the city, replacing a plan to develop
the western periphery of the city. Mayor Rabbi Lupoliansky
asked that the western plan be taken off the agenda in favor
of new plans for construction within the city limits. The new
neighborhoods will be built in the area of Givat Alona,
Atarot Airport, al-Walajeh to the southwest, another Jewish
neighborhood in East Jerusalem and in the area between Gilo
and Beitar Illit and Gush Etzion.
Based on the Mayor's policy of building tens of thousands of
new housing units in the city, the Municipal Committee for
Local Planning and Construction, headed by Deputy Mayor Rabbi
Yehoshua Pollak, determined that changing the regional master
plan, following the decision of the National Council for
Planning and Construction, would require rejecting the Safdie
Plan for the development of West Jerusalem.
According to the Jerusalem Municipality's plans, 10,000
housing units would be built near the village of al-Walajeh.
The large plot includes state lands, absentee properties and
property owned by Jewish entrepreneurs. Ha'aretz
quoted government sources who said the neighborhood to be
built between Gilo and Beitar Illit would probably be
designed for the chareidi public since the Jewish land owners
have already forged ties with chareidi investors.
The plan calls for another 10,000 apartments to be built in
the area of unused state-owned lands that used to serve as
Atarot Airport. An underground tunnel would connect the
neighborhood to Tel Tzion, located north of Jerusalem.
Another neighborhood of 500 units is planned for construction
on land purchased by right-wing US millionaire Irving
Moskowitz in the Abu-Dis area.
Although the plans have been approved in the local committee
they will not be implemented in the near future due to the
lengthy planning process. The plans are expected to be raised
for discussion in the Regional Committee and the National
Council for Planning and Construction.
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