The municipality of Jerusalem on Monday approved the construction of 600 new homes in Pisgat Zeev, east of the Green Line.
Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski approved the expansion in Pisgat Zeev - a Jewish settlement surrounded by Arab towns in the West Bank - as part of a plan to construct 40,000 more homes in the area as foreign interest drives property prices up.
Also Monday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert promised the spiritual leader of the Shas Party, Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef, that he would authorize construction on "Jerusalem envelope" lands which have been thus far frozen, sources from the ultra-Orthodox Party said. "The Prime Minister promised Rabbi
unequivocally that the construction in all the Jerusalem envelope communities will not be hindered and will be unfrozen without delay," sources from the ultra-Orthodox Shas Party said.
The sources added that the rabbi had made clear to Olmert "with conviction" that the issue of construction in the ultra-Orthodox towns in Arab areas surrounding Jerusalem "are Shas' top priority," and that he will ask party chairman Eli Yishai to continue updating him on the matter.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/970234.html