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Israeli PM orders halt to house construction in disputed area

13 November 2013 03:59 (UTC +04:00)

The ministry had recently published tenders for thousands of housing units in the West Bank and east Jerusalem territories. The Ha'aretz daily reported Tuesday that the plans also include 1,200 housing units in the disputed area, which connects the West Bank settlement of Ma'ale Adumim with Jerusalem.

Netanyahu called upon the ministry officials to cancel the problematic tender. An official in the housing ministry confirmed to Xinhua that the tenders for construction in "E1" have been halted Tuesday.

"There is no need to pay international prices for a process that does not have great significance," Netanyahu said.

Israel's construction in "E1" is more controversial than in other territories it annexed in the 1967 war, since the territorial stretch forms a corridor and if it is filled with Israeli settlements, it will block a possible formation of a future Palestinian state in the West Bank.

The last time Israel declared its intention to build in "E1" was in December 2012. Both the United States and the European Union harshly criticized Israel's plan and U.S. officials called it "a pattern of provocative action."

In addition, Britain, France, Sweden, Denmark, Spain, Brazil and Austalia have all summoned Israeli ambassadors in their countries then to condemn the decision.

This is a delicate time for Netanyahu's government diplomacy, as the prime minister tries to recruit the world's support to ease sanctions on Iran's nuclear plan, which he dubs an "existential threat" to Israel, amid Iran's talks with the P5+1 nations in Geneva.

Moreover, Israeli and Palestinian teams have been negotiating for the past three months in an attempt to reach an agreement to end the conflict between them.