Israel plans 4,300 apartments in Jerusalem

Israel’s interior minister has given final authorisation to build 1,600 apartments in disputed east Jerusalem and will approve 2,700 more in days, officials said today.

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office knows the construction plans are moving ahead, interior ministry spokesman Roi Lachmanovich said. An earlier approval for the 1,600-apartment project badly embarrassed Mr Netanyahu and caused a diplomatic rift with Washington because it coincided with a visit to Israel by US vice-president Joe Biden.