Ras Al-Amud

   A site a few hundred yards east of the Temple Mount and south of the Mount of Olives. In July 1997, Jerusalem mayor Ehud Olmert granted permission for a developer to break ground and begin construction on a Jewish housing project there. Palestinian leaders described the plan as evidence of Israeli bad faith in the peace process and protested the decision to build. The project was subsequently postponed. In January 1998, the Interior Ministry announced that it had approved plans for Ras al-Amud. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said he would block the project because of its political sensitivity. In August 1998, Jerusalem city authorities approved plans to build 132 apartments for Jewish families in Ras al-Amud. Netanyahu's office again minimized the possibility that the project would go ahead, arguing that "public order and safety" powers of the government could be used to prevent it.

   See also Har Homa.