Controversial East Jerusalem hotel okayed by local zoning committee

A new hotel and commercial center slated for Wadi Joz in East Jerusalem came one step closer to implementation yesterday when the Jerusalem planning and building committee submitted the plans for public comment. This means the committee has approved the plans.

The site, close to the Old City, currently houses a wholesale market serving East Jerusalem residents and a kindergarten for Palestinian children. Both will have to be demolished to make way for the hotel.

The lot, just east of the Rockefeller Museum, is owned by the Jerusalem municipality. The state-owned Jerusalem Development Authority will build the hotel.

The plan calls for a nine-story, 200-room hotel whose architecture matches the topographical contours of the hill. The building's roof will be developed into a street-level public square overlooking the Mount of Olives and Kidron Valley.

Store owners at the site will be offered space in the commercial center planned as part of the hotel.

The area is part of the master zoning plan for the Old City, and is earmarked as open, public space. The municipality intends to rezone the site for commercial use and hotels, as well as a public, pedestrian passageway.

As published in Haaretz yesterday, senior American officials emphasized to Israeli officials that they expect Israel to freeze plans to expand the Jewish presence in East Jerusalem, especially the Holy Basin, the area adjacent to the Old City.

Israeli officials responded that it is the policy of the planning institutions to promote hotel plans in order to develop the capital city, while cultivating its public spaces.