Thread by @JacobMagid

Blinken initiated a phone call w/ Bennett to express his dismay over Israeli plans to advance a controversial East Jerusalem housing project, despite signaling last week that it had shelved the plan, sources familiar told @TimesofIsrael (1/12) timesofisrael.com/blinken-initia…

The phone call was “intense,” an official said, with Blinken expressing the Biden administration’s vehement opposition to the 9,000-home plan in Atarot, which supporters of a two-state solution argue would mark a death knell for the proposal (2/12)

Last Wednesday, a local committee in the Jerusalem municipality gave preliminary approval to the project slated for construction on the grounds of the old Atarot airport and intended to be an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood, sparking concern from Washington. (3/12)

The next step in the approval would see the project green-lit through the “deposit” stage by the District Planning Committee in the Interior Ministry. But the next day, senior Israeli officials confirmed that they had assured their US counterparts that plan had been shelved(4/12)

The Interior Ministry subsequently removed the plan from its docket hours later after the District Planning Committee had been scheduled to adjudicate the plan on December 6. On Sunday though, the Atarot plan returned to the Interior Min website (5/12)

To further complicate matters, a source familiar with the matter told ToI on Thursday that the State Department only learned of the Israeli commitment to shelve the project from the media and that no message was passed along directly to them. (6/12)

The source said Bennett assured Blinken that the plan wouldnt receive final approval for construction, but Blinken — who received detailed briefing on matter ahead of call — resisted & said that any advancement of plan at all would be unacceptable, as far as US is concerned(7/12)

Jerusalem appears determined to advance the plan through the deposit stage so that it will only require one additional approval from the District Planning Committee in order to begin breaking ground, the well-placed source speculated. (8/12)

While panel responsible for advancing the plan is under the auspices of Ayelet Shaked’s Interior Ministry, the project itself is being marketed by the Housing Ministry headed by Ze’ev Elkin, whose made clear that he plans to advance Israeli construction beyond Green Line (9/12)

One coalition lawmaker told ToI that given lack of agreement among members of the diverse coalition on settlements, each minister is working to advance their own party’s agenda from their own respective office, leaving Bennett with the difficult task of maintaining order(10/12)

The new government has sought to avoid public spats with the Biden administration and behind closed doors has assured Washington that Israel would not break ground on projects in other sensitive areas such as E-1 near the Ma’ale Adumim settlement, the source said. (11/12)

In the meantime though, a Defense Ministry body responsible for authorizing West Bank construction held a meeting in October to discuss the E-1 plan, as Israeli authorities appear determined to advance construction as quietly as possible. END.