The Israeli government along with the Jerusalem municipality are working hard at marketing the controversial East Jerusalem construction project prior to the Jan. 22 elections, local media reported Thursday.
A local ultra-Orthodox newspaper called Bakehila reported that the housing ministry is trying to expedite marketing procedures to homes in the new community in northeast Jerusalem within the next 10 days.
The report also revealed that the ministry, along with the Israel Lands Administration and the Jerusalem municipality, have " decided to take advantage of the timing and push through construction plans in Ramat Shlomo as quickly as possible."
In December 2012, the housing ministry announced the construction of 1,500 new housing units in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo on lands annexed by Israel in the 1967 war.
The construction plans, which rattled the international community who opposes to the Israeli construction over Palestinian lands, were announced just after the United Nations approved the Palestinian bid to become a non-member observer state in the General Assembly on Nov. 29, 2012.
According to the Ha'aretz daily, while preparing tenders usually take about six months, the ministry has figured out a way to complete the process before Jan. 22, with the help of Moriah Development Company.
The company, which cooperated with the ministry in the past, is set to carry out the planning and development of the new neighborhood that would mainly house ultra-Orthodox Jews as soon as possible.
The original plan to expand Ramat Shlomo was approved in March 2010, during a high-level visit by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden to Jerusalem.
Israel has been under fire by the international community in the past two months due to its growing plans of expansion and construction of thousands of housing units in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the E1 territorial corridor connecting them.
World nations have summoned their Israeli ambassadors and denounced the construction plans, among which are the United States, Britain, France, Italy, Russia, Brazil, Sweden and Australia.
Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians came to a halt in 2010 due to the expansion of the Israeli settlements.
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