Israel’s Housing Ministry opens bids on building in two settlements
Published January 16, 2013
The ministry issued the tenders for two construction projects including 114 homes in Efrat and 84 in Kiryat Arba, near Hebron.
The announcement comes a day after U.S. columnist Jeffrey Goldberg quoted President Obama as saying ‘Israel doesn’t know what its own best interests are,’ after announcing a plans for a housing project in the controversial E-1 corridor in the West Bank between Maale Adumim and Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, Peace Now released a report Wednesday which says a record number of construction projects were commenced or approved in West Bank Jewish settlements in 2012.
The government approved plans for more than 6,600 West Bank apartments and homes, and ground was broken on another 1,400 West Bank homes.
3,500 of the approvals were residential units intended for the E-1 corridor.
This compares with 1,607 housing units approved for construction in 2011, according to the report.
Four new settlement outposts also were established in 2012, according to the report.
