Gideon Sa'ar: End housing freeze in Jerusalem

Sa'ar's tour was part of a series of visits to strategic sites around Jerusalem in which Netanyahu has not built as Prime Minister.

By GIL HOFFMAN
Likud MK Gideon Sa'ar in Givat Hamatos with MKs Michal Shir and Sharre Haskel (photo credit: Courtesy)
Likud MK Gideon Sa'ar in Givat Hamatos with MKs Michal Shir and Sharre Haskel
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Likud leadership candidate Gideon Sa'ar called upon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to build a new Jewish neighborhood on the Givat Hamatos hilltop in the southeastern part of Jerusalem on Thursday.
Sa'ar toured the site along with MKs Michal Shir and Sharren Haskel, who support  him in the Likud leadership primary next Thursday.
"The future of Jerusalem will be decided by actions, not words," Sa'ar said. "It is time to end the building freeze in this city, and that is what I will do."
Sa'ar's tour was part of a series of visits to strategic sites around Jerusalem in which Netanyahu has not built as Prime Minister.
Last week, Sa'ar visited the E-1 corridor between Northern Jerusalem and Ma'ale Adumim, and called for immediate construction on the site.
"Givat Hamatos is part of a larger area that encompasses the city where construction has been frozen, along with E-1 and Atarot."
Sa'ar added that more than 17,000 housing units could be built in the area, which could help achieve Jewish contiguity in the Jerusalem periphery and help the housing crisis in the capital.
"Many young Jewish Jerusalemites, because there is not enough housing available, which raises prices," he said. "The demographic balance is harmed by this and therefore it is needed to unfreeze these areas for construction."
In a decision that could impact the race, a Likud internal court decided on Thursday that the party must hold primaries for its Knesset candidates or change the party's constitution to avoid such a race.
The Likud central committee already decided last week to keep the same list for the next Knesset that ran in the September 17 election. But the court decided that the committee's decision was illegal.
The head of the internal court, former MK Michael Kleiner, said two thirds of the central committee members who attend the next meeting will have to vote to change the party's constitution.
Channel 12 reported that Netanyahu might want to hold a primary for the list in order to take revenge against the MKs who endorsed Sa'ar in the leadership race and prevent them from entering the next Knesset.