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Israel Rebuffs U.S. Request to Halt Construction in Jerusalem
(Ha'aretz) Barak Ravid - U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro met with Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai on Wednesday and urged him to shelve a plan to construct 1,100 new housing units in the Gilo neighborhood [pop. 40,000] of Jerusalem, warning it could push international support in favor of the Palestinians in their move for UN recognition. Yishai reportedly rejected Shapiro's request, saying that construction in Jerusalem has never stopped and that it would not stop now. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected criticism against the construction plan, saying that Gilo is not a settlement, but rather a Jerusalem neighborhood five minutes from the center of the capital. He noted that all Israeli governments built in such neighborhoods.