The Israeli justice ministry has started to advance a large-scale plan submitted by a real estate company to build 450 housing units for Jewish settlers in the heart of a Palestinian residential area in east Jerusalem.
The custodian general at the ministry Hananel Gurfinkel is advancing the new settlement plan according to Haaretz website on Tuesday.
Haaretz described Gurfinkel as a right-wing activist member of the Bayit Hayehudi party and founder of a group advocating the Judaization of Jerusalem.
The real estate company Topodia which is run by right-wing activists submitted the plan to Gurfinkel asking him to advance a plan to change the zoning of the land in the annexed area in order to build the new settlement.
This area was supposed to serve Palestinian residents Haaretz pointed out.
Describing it as “the biggest development plans for Jews in east Jerusalem” Haaretz said that these housing units are set to be built on 12 dunums of land which are located between the Palestinian neighborhoods of Umm Lisan and Jabel Mukaber.
The plan is slated to be brought before the Israeli planning and construction committee next week.
