Yair Gabai, a member of the Jerusalem district planning and building committee, said Wednesday that Prime Minister Netanyahu has ordered the committee to freeze deliberations over all proposals for future construction projects in the capital. “We have received an order from the prime minister telling us to stop approving any new plan,” Gabai said. The Interior Ministry said Netanyahu ordered the freeze to continue until a new board was set up, tasked with coordinating building plans in Jerusalem with the government.
“All plans have been stopped for the whole of the city,” Gabai said, warning that the decision would inflate housing prices in the capital. “Every delay in housing plans will raise prices for young couples seeking to own their own homes. Contractors who purchased properties will be forced to pay interest to banks as they wait for approval, and they in turn will charge higher prices for housing developments.” “We have taken two steps backwards on affordable housing in Jerusalem. This will also have a negative effect in demographic terms, since certain elements do not respect planning laws and construct homes illegally,” Gabai said, referring to Arab construction in east Jerusalem.
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