Israel premier Benjamin Netanyahu had delayed a vote on the settlements until the end of Barack Obama’s presidency, but “the rules of the game have changed with Donald Trump,” the city’s mayor declared after approving the homes.
Chairman of Jerusalem city hall’s Planning and Building committee, Meir Turgeman, told Israel Radio the permits had been delayed until Obama left office.
Israeli authorities approved new permits for 566 new homes in east Jerusalem, city officials announced on Sunday.
The approvals came just two days after the inauguration of US President Donald Trump. Deputy mayor Turjeman told the AFP news agency: “We no longer have our hands tied as in the time of Barack Obama. Now we can finally build.”
There are plans for even more homes. Turjeman said some 11 000 additional homes in East Jerusalem were also being processed.
In December Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed a Jerusalem city council vote on issuing the permits after the US allowed the passing of a stinging resolution by the United Nations Security Council.
The resolution demanded that Israel “immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including east Jerusalem”.
Netanyahu however refused to back down from settlement construction, despite the December resolution, issuing a series of diplomatic retributions.
The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives earlier voted overwhelmingly in support of Israel and condemning the UN resolution on Jewish settlements, after US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power raised her hand to indicate the US’s abstention in the vote.
The Obama administration had broken with tradition in abstaining from a Security Council move to condemn Israeli settlements, allowing it to pass without the usual veto.
The resolution was written in accordance with Chapter VI of the UN Charter, under which resolutions are recommendations, not orders.
Earlier in January more than 70 countries, including the US, gathered in Paris to discuss the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, while Netanyahu slammed the meet as “rigged”.
“We’ve been through eight tough years with Obama pressuring to freeze construction. Although the Jerusalem municipality has not frozen plans, many times we did not get government approval because of American pressure,” Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said on Sunday.
Barkat told Times of Israel he has already held talks with American officials about moving the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a day after a White House official said discussions of the controversial transfer were only in their early stages.
Trump vowed to move the embassy during his address at last year’s AIPAC Policy Conference, and he has indicated during his transition that he will follow through on that promise.
The move is likely to inflame Palestinians and their supporters. Palestinian and Arab leaders have warned that relocating the embassy could lead to mass protests and unrest. Top Palestinian official Jibril Rajoub told The Times of Israel such a move would be a “declaration of war.”
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas indicated he could revoke the PLO’s recognition of Israel, while his Fatah party warned the move “would open the gates of hell.”
