Outrage After Govt. Nixes Telzstone Expansion, Approves Expansion For Neighboring Arab Village

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Chareidi Knesset members have promised to fight for the right of Telzstone, a chareidi Jewish community in the Jerusalem corridor, to expand. A recent decision by the Jerusalem District Geographical Committee rejected the request of the Telzstone Council to expand the yishuv, while approving the request of the neighboring Arab village of Abu Ghosh. Even more outrageous was the justification given by the committee for denying Telzstone’s request, citing “environmental issues,” which apparently didn’t apply to Abu Ghosh.

Given the fact that the person who led the battle against Telzstone’s expansion was Yisrael Beitenu MK Alex Kushnir, the committee’s blatantly unfair decision is not surprising. Kushnir even celebrated the “victory” on Facebook, writing: “The attempt at religious coercion and taking over natural areas in the Jerusalem hills have been thwarted! I welcome the recommendation of the Geographical Committee.”

Yitzchak Ravitz, the head of the Telzstone Council said: “This is an outrage that should shock us all: the same committee that approves one yishuv rejects the request of the second yishuv. The same conditions apply to both yishuvim – the only difference is that one yishuv is Chareidi and the other is Arab. Chareidim: No. Arabs: Yes. There’s no other reason – it’s exactly the same area, the same scenic conditions and environmental values apply to both yishuvim. It’s astounding that they approved construction for the Arabs and not for the Chareidim.”

“It should be noted that two committees already approved the expansion from a professional viewpoint,” Ravitz added. “A master plan was prepared by the Housing Ministry already in 1999, in which dozens of consultants were involved – landscape, economic, societal, developmental, and infrastructural. The ministry came to an unequivocal conclusion that the area should be incorporated into Telzstone. It’s impossible to escape the conclusion that what happened is an act of pure hatred of Chareidim. ”

Ravitz initiated meetings with MKs from UTJ and Shas in order to coordinate the opposition to the committee’s decision. The MKs described the decision as “antisemitic, there’s no other way to explain it.”. The MKs also promised to do everything possible so that the Interior Ministry would repeal the recommendations of the Geographical Committee, as it has done on some occasions in the past