U.S tensions put Jerusalem construction on hold

clipped from www.haaretz.com Construction requiring the approval of Jerusalem's district planning committee has been on hold for more than a month in all parts of the city due to concerns about a new crisis in ties with the United States. Staff members of the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee have been instructed to halt their work in an effort to spare Israel further embarrassing incidents like the March announcement, during U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Israel, of plans to expand the Jewish neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo in East Jerusalem. Architects have said district committee chairwoman Ruth Yosef is not even signing off on plans that have already been approved, causing a backlog. The district committee has not met for over a month and upcoming hearings have been canceled. The architects say when they ask about the reason for the freeze on committee activity they are told it is because of U.S. President Barack Obama.