JERUSALEM (AP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Thursday he was pushing ahead with the construction of 5,000 new Jewish homes in key areas of east Jerusalem, where critics say additional building could cut Palestinian residents off from the rest of the West Bank.
On a visit to the Har Homa neighborhood, Netanyahu pledged to build the homes there and in the Givat Hamatos neighborhood. Both lie on some of the last spaces of land linking the Palestinian areas of the West Bank to their hoped-for capital in east Jerusalem.
Netanyahu pledged to turn Har Homa into a “mid-sized city,” and expanding a presence that many believe has already dealt a devastating blow to the Palestinian dream of independence.
Building in the areas has previously sparked international outcry, which has at times reined in Netanyahu’s settlement building sprees. But emboldened by President Donald Trump’s support and his favorable Mideast plan, he appears to be charging ahead with construction there.
“We are connecting Jerusalem. We are connecting all parts of the united Jerusalem, the rebuilt Jerusalem,” he said. “We did it in the face of fierce international opposition. We surmounted all the obstacles and we have done it.”