'A Wedge Through Future Palestinian State' Israel Resurrects Plan for 9,000-unit ultra-Orthodox Neighborhood in Jerusalem, Beyond Internationally Recognized 1948 Border
Tuesday, December 16, 2025 at 10:44PM Critics warn the Atarot neighborhood, the first construction beyond Israel's internationally recognized Jerusalem border since the 1990s, could entrench Israeli control in East Jerusalem and block a future Palestinian state
by Nir Hasson. 16 December 2025. Haaretz
The Israeli government is reviving a long-stalled plan for a large ultra-Orthodox neighborhood in territory beyond Israel's pre-1967 boundary, a move critics warn could further entrench Israeli control in East Jerusalem and undermine prospects for a future Palestinian state.
The neighborhood, to be called Atarot, is planned for the site of an abandoned airport between two large Palestinian neighborhoods, Beit Hanina and Kafr 'Aqab, and would include about 9,000 housing units. If built, it would be the first instance of construction beyond Israel's internationally recognized border in Jerusalem since the Har Homa neighborhood was built in the 1990s.
The plan for the new neighborhood will be submitted to the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee for a hearing on Wednesday.
Activist group Peace Now said the plan aims to drive a wedge through a densely populated Palestinian area stretching from Ramallah through Kafr 'Aqab and Qalandiyah to Beit Hanina and Shoafat, home to hundreds of thousands of residents. The neighborhood, Peace Now says, would "prevent Palestinian development of the most important metropolis in the future Palestinian state: Jerusalem-Ramallah-Beit-Lehem."
"This is a destructive plan that, if implemented … would effectively block the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel," Peace Now said, adding, "The government is using every moment to bury the chance for a future of peace and compromise."
The proposed neighborhood has been in the planning pipeline for many years, but was frozen due to diplomatic pressure from the Obama administration. The last time the proposal was discussed, in 2021, the district committee put it on hold pending a review of local environmental conditions.
"This is a destructive plan that, if implemented … would effectively block the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel," Peace Now said, adding, "The government is using every moment to bury the chance for a future of peace and compromise."
The proposed neighborhood has been in the planning pipeline for many years, but was frozen due to diplomatic pressure from the Obama administration. The last time the proposal was discussed, in 2021, the district committee put it on hold pending a review of local environmental conditions.
Recently, the Finance Ministry requested approval from the Knesset Finance Committee to allocate an additional 16 million shekels to the Environmental Protection Ministry for "soil decontamination projects", including a budget to restore the Atarot airport site to allow construction of the neighborhood.
Haaretz reported in November that Israel was planning to build an incinerator in Qalandiya, which straddles the separation fence. Its construction would require demolishing two houses where dozens of Palestinians live and demolishing and rebuilding a section of the separation fence, expropriating 150 dunam (37.5 acres) of the residents' farmland.
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