Pisgat Zeev in the News

On October 22, 2012 the Ministry of Construction issued a press release (Hebrew) announcing that 5000 residential units that will be marketed by publishing of tenders in the coming months, among which are 607 units to be marketed in Pisgat Ze’ev, on the border of the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Hanina. No tenders were issued this context in Pisgat Ze’ev (or anywhere else). And if, in the past, such pronouncements were geared to create a provocation in East Jerusalem for domestic or international consumption, this is not the case with the current press release. Rather, this was all about the Minister of Construction’s attempt to show off his achievements in anticipation of the upcoming elections.

But in spite of all this, the press release is significant. With the October 18th approval of Mordot Gilo, the settlement floodgates have re-opened in East Jerusalem. It is now likely that we are at the beginning of a new settlement surge – and this press release provides a credible indication of where the next tenders may be.