Government Approves NIS 3.2 Billion Plan to Develop Eastern Jerusalem

The decision was submitted by Jerusalem Affairs and Jewish Tradition Minister Meir Porush following joint work between his ministry and the Finance Ministry, the Municipality of Jerusalem and various government ministries.

The plan deals with education, employment guidance and encouraging employment, high-productivity employment, economic development, public transportation support roads, projects, public transportation, energy and electricity, sewage, statutory planning, public structures, health, social welfare, sustainability, public spaces, culture, community affairs and recreation, personal security and local initiatives.

The Government has determined that the Jerusalem Affairs and Jewish Tradition Ministry will be responsible for the overall management of, and integration of operations for, the implementation of the plan for the decision as a whole. A steering committee chaired by the Jerusalem Affairs and Jewish Tradition Ministry Director General will be established; its members will include representatives of the Prime Minister's Office, the Finance Ministry Budget Director and Accountant General and the Jerusalem Municipality Director General.

The Jerusalem Affairs and Jewish Tradition Ministry will report to the Government on the implementation of the Government decision once a year, close to Jerusalem Day. In order to carry out this decision, the Government ministries involved in the plan, as well as the operational agencies, will send to the Jerusalem Affairs and Jewish Tradition Ministry the necessary data for research, monitoring and oversight.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:

"Our Government attends to the needs of all citizens and residents of Israel and it is strengthening our policy to benefit a united and strong Jerusalem, under Israeli sovereignty. To this end, today we submitted to the Government a very important NIS 3 billion decision that will benefit the residents of eastern Jerusalem and change the face of the city of Jerusalem.

This decision includes the massive development of infrastructure, reform of the health system, reform of the social welfare system, increasing personal security, increasing employment and increasing eligibility for a matriculation certificate. We are building Jerusalem. We are strengthening governance in Jerusalem, We are uniting Jerusalem.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues: Minister Smotrich, Minister Porush, Mayor Moshe Lion and, as Minister Porush pointed out during the Cabinet meeting, to thank a long list of ministers who diverted from their ministries' budgets to benefit this important effort. I would also like to thank everyone in the ministries who helped us submit this important decision. Thank you all very much."

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich:

"I am pleased to lead the largest five-year plan for eastern Jerusalem. As one who believes in strengthening the sovereignty of all of Jerusalem, I attribute great importance to the five-year plan. We are investing in education, employment and economic development, transportation, public structures, services for residents, increasing personal security and more. The Finance Ministry, in cooperation with the Jerusalem Affairs and Jewish Tradition Ministry and the Municipality, is investing billions into the development of eastern Jerusalem. United Jerusalem is not some slogan. It is responsibility for every resident and for the development and prosperity of Jerusalem, our eternal capital, 'Jerusalem that is built as a city that is compact altogether' – from words to deeds. Blessings to the residents of Jerusalem."

Jerusalem Affairs and Jewish Tradition Minister Meir Porush:

"After many months of expedited work, we have submitted to the Government a professional and comprehensive decision that increases investment in eastern Jerusalem by 50%, to an unprecedented sum of over NIS 3 billion. Professionals in the Jerusalem Affairs and Jewish Tradition Ministry worked together with the Jerusalem Municipality, the Finance Ministry and many Government ministries, in order to learn the lessons from the previous five-year plan and submit a more efficient decision. I thank Prime Minister Netanyahu, Finance Minister Smotrich, Mayor Lion and the considerable number of Government ministries that took part in the joint effort to approve the decision."

Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion:

"The decision that was made today is a sovereign decision. We here today are proving that eastern Jerusalem is an inseparable part of Jerusalem. This five-year plan delivers an important message to the residents of the eastern part of the city who, in recent years, have experienced a genuine turnaround in all aspects of life, but mainly in education. I thank the Prime Minister and my friends, the ministers, for the assistance and the readiness, and wish success to us all."