A Jerusalem municipal committee canceled plans to vote on Wednesday on approving permits for the construction of nearly 500 homes for Israelis in east Jerusalem, a city official said. Hanan Rubin, a member of Jerusalem's Planning and Housing Committee, told Reuters the request to put off the vote came from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Rubin said the decision stemmed from a desire to avoid straining relations further with the Obama administration before a speech later in the day by US Secretary of State John Kerry on Israeli-Palestinian peace. A spokesman for Netanyahu was not immediately available to comment.
