Bennett government ‘most dangerous’ to Jerusalem: Palestinian minister

By Abdelraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) - Palestinian Minister of Jerusalem Affairs Fadi al-Hidmi on Monday termed the government of Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett as the “most dangerous" to Jerusalem.

The Knesset (Israel’s parliament) is set to vote on Monday on a bill to dissolve itself and go to early elections in preparation for the formation of a new government, to replace Bennett's Cabinet that came to power last year.

Al-Hidmi said Bennett’s government has “escalated settlement building, Palestinian home demolitions, arrests along with pursuing plans to Judaize Jerusalem and change the identity of the city.”

He added that Bennett’s government also continued “violations inside the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque and Islamic and Christian holy sites in the city."

"The year of this government has been very difficult for Al-Aqsa Mosque, which saw a series of steps aimed at erasing the historical and legal status in Al-Aqsa Mosque,” the minister said.

Al-Hidmi noted that the Israeli government has approved the construction of 14,104 settlement units in Jerusalem since it came to power.

The final approval regarding these settlement units is yet to be issued by the District Committee of the Israeli Ministry of Interior.

Israeli and Palestinian estimates indicate there are about 650,000 settlers living in 164 settlements and 116 outposts in the occupied West Bank.

Under international law, all Jewish settlements in the occupied territories are considered illegal.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat in Ankara