Pictured Above: The abandoned Atarot Airport, whose entrance is pictured here, will be the site of a newly constructed neighborhood in Jerusalem. Credit: Ori via Wikimedia Commons.

(JNS.org) Israel’s Housing Ministry has revived a plan to construct 10,000 homes in a new neighborhood in Jerusalem.

The plan for the new neighborhood was established by the Jerusalem municipality several years ago, but was frozen due to the Obama administration’s strong disapproval of Israeli construction beyond the 1967 lines. 

The construction plan was brought back following President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January and is due to be made public in May, Israel’s Channel 10 reported this week. 

The new neighborhood is slated to be built near the security fence close to the Qalandia checkpoint, at the abandoned Atarot Airport, which was deserted during the second intifada due to fears that Palestinian terrorists would shoot down airplanes. 

Additional sites designated for construction under the plan include Jewish-owned areas west of the airport in Judea and Samaria.  

The proposed neighborhood is intended to provide housing for haredi Israelis, yet leaders of that community have cited concerns regarding the neighborhood’s close proximity to areas with large Palestinian populations and its distance from the center of Jerusalem.

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