"Interior Minister Eli Yishai apologized on Wednesday for causing domestic and international distress as a result of Israel's recent decision to approve 1,600 more homes in East Jerusalem.
Yishai was responding to the recent wave of condemnations, particularly on the part of the United States and visiting Vice President Joe Biden, surrounding the recent plan to build 1,600 more housing units in an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood in East Jerusalem.
The Interior Minister said that he was uninformed of the district committee's plan, because the matter was simply a routine, technical authorization.(Obviously a big fat lie. My comment)
Yishai emphasized that even though he doesn't see a problem with the actual authorization of the East Jerusalem homes, if he knew about it, he would have delayed the move by a few weeks.
"If I'd have known, I would have postponed the authorization by a week or two since we had no intention of provoking anyone," Yishai said. "It is definitely unpleasant that this happened during Biden's visit. If the committee members would have known that the approval would have escalated to such a situation, they would have informed me," Yishai emphasized.
"I apologize for the distress this matter caused," he added.
On Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned Israel's plan to build 1,600 in East Jerusalem, echoing comments made earlier by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden.
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<span>The prime minister reportedly promised Biden "No one was seeking to embarrass you or undermine your visit - on the contrary, you are a true friend to Israel."</span>
ReplyDeleteHe probably said with a little smirk and a twinkle in his eye.
yeah , but Biden gave it back really bad to him , he was late to the dinner party.
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