Israel on Wednesday extended the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem, a city in the heart of the conflict with the Palestinians, and announced plans to build 50 000 houses for Jews and Arabs in the place in the next two decades. Officials said the land annexed to the expansion corresponds to a kibbutz on the border of the occupied territory where Palestinians seek to create a state and released as part of celebrations for the anniversary of the capture of East Jerusalem by Israel in a war 1967.
In another incident, members of right-wing cabinet of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended the opening ceremony of a Jewish settlement recently built in an area populated mostly by Palestinians in East Jerusalem, stressing the disputes that have pursued for decades the now-stalled peace process Middle East.
Israel annexed East Jerusalem as part of its capital, a condition that has never been recognized by the international community for decades and Netanyahu reiterated on Tuesday in a speech in Washington that Israel would not give any city under a future peace agreement. "Jerusalem must remain the united capital of Israel," he said in remarks that led to the swift condemnation from the Palestinians.
Interior Minister Eli Yishai, who heads the powerful Orthodox Jewish party coalition government of Netanyahu told reporters invited to his office on Wednesday that "Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Israel." "We are pushing the limits" of the city, said Yishai, while presenting a plan to build a new neighborhood bordering East Jerusalem, which was built between 600 thousand to two thousand housing units.
"I am firmly behind the goal to expand the boundaries of Jerusalem, and must find ways to do that," Yishai said, citing the anniversary of the capture of East Jerusalem as an "appropriate time" for the measure. Nir Barkat, the Israeli Mayor of Jerusalem, said that the 30 hectares of land to be annexed are not in an area "under dispute", suggesting that they are not within the West Bank, without giving further details.
"There are many different lines in Jerusalem," Barkat said when asked about it. He said the plan was part of a larger project to build about 50 000 houses for Jews and Palestinians in the city over the next 20 years, when the combined population expected to increase from the current 800 thousand to about one million. 
In another incident, members of right-wing cabinet of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended the opening ceremony of a Jewish settlement recently built in an area populated mostly by Palestinians in East Jerusalem, stressing the disputes that have pursued for decades the now-stalled peace process Middle East.
Israel annexed East Jerusalem as part of its capital, a condition that has never been recognized by the international community for decades and Netanyahu reiterated on Tuesday in a speech in Washington that Israel would not give any city under a future peace agreement. "Jerusalem must remain the united capital of Israel," he said in remarks that led to the swift condemnation from the Palestinians.
Interior Minister Eli Yishai, who heads the powerful Orthodox Jewish party coalition government of Netanyahu told reporters invited to his office on Wednesday that "Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Israel." "We are pushing the limits" of the city, said Yishai, while presenting a plan to build a new neighborhood bordering East Jerusalem, which was built between 600 thousand to two thousand housing units.
"I am firmly behind the goal to expand the boundaries of Jerusalem, and must find ways to do that," Yishai said, citing the anniversary of the capture of East Jerusalem as an "appropriate time" for the measure. Nir Barkat, the Israeli Mayor of Jerusalem, said that the 30 hectares of land to be annexed are not in an area "under dispute", suggesting that they are not within the West Bank, without giving further details.
"There are many different lines in Jerusalem," Barkat said when asked about it. He said the plan was part of a larger project to build about 50 000 houses for Jews and Palestinians in the city over the next 20 years, when the combined population expected to increase from the current 800 thousand to about one million.
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