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Israel approves plan to tighten controls over East Jerusalem

June 30, 2014 at 11:33 am

The Israeli government yesterday approved a plan to deepen Israeli control over East Jerusalem at a total cost of up to 295 million shekels ($90 million), with the aim of preventing the division of Jerusalem in future peace deals with Palestinians.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz said the plan aims to strengthen the bonds between the 300,000 predominantly Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem and the State of Israel, which is somewhat similar to the plan Minister of the Economy Naftali Bennett proposed, which calls for the annexation of Area C in the West Bank.

The plan is set to extend over five years to prevent any chance of a division of the city as part of any future peace deal with the Palestinian Authority.

Following a political-security cabinet discussion last December, which dealt with the apparent deteriorating security situation in East Jerusalem, Israeli ministers set up an inter-ministerial committee to formulate a plan of action for the area.

After the committee held three meetings between December 2013 and May 2014 they issued a report with recommendations. The report said the worsening security situation had “a real impact on Israel’s ability to effectively govern the area under its sovereignty, was leading Israeli visitors to stay away from historic sites such as the cemetery on the Mount of Olives, and to untenable living conditions for the local residents.”

The committee recommended that the ministers set up a five-year plan for the alleged “economic and social development of East Jerusalem”. The task was assigned to far-right Minister for Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs Naftali Bennett, and his ministry’s director-general Dvir Kahana, who “until a year and a half ago was the director-general of the Elad, a right-wing organisation that strives to bolster the Jewish presence in the Palestinian neighbourhoods of East Jerusalem”, Haaretz explained.

The report submitted by the committee said: “The security situation in East Jerusalem is a top national interest. Implementing the recommendations will have a far-reaching effect… On the national level, this is an important component in the unity of Jerusalem, Israel’s capital.”