Israel practices discrimination against Palestinians in East Jerusalem in comparison with Jewish residents, according to an Israeli parliamentary committee on Thursday, Anadolu News Agency reports.
The Knesset (Israel’s parliament) State Control Committee said there is a gap in the services provided to Arab residents of Jerusalem who constitute one-third of its population, compared with Jewish residents.
“The neighbourhoods of East Jerusalem are burning and, unfortunately, the Minister of National Security [Itamar Ben-Gvir] is conducting himself like an elephant in a china shop, and is causing uninvolved individuals to become involved,” Mickey Levy, Chair of the Committee, said.
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“His irresponsible behaviour is not serving the security of the State of Israel and may bring about severe events,” he warned.
In recent weeks, Ben-Gvir, the head of the far-right Jewish Strength party, has decided to expand the scope of Palestinian home demolitions in Occupied East Jerusalem.
The parliamentary committee said the poverty rate in East Jerusalem stands at 75 per cent, compared with 29 per cent among the city’s Jewish residents, along with a shortage of some 2,000 classrooms in the city.
“If the State does not want to lose the eastern part of the city, the [Israeli] government must provide services to them,” Levy said.
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Montather Rassoul