Mayor Nir Barkat says the plan will provide a much-needed facelift for Jerusalem's decaying Al-Bustan neighborhood, which Israel calls King's Garden. He says the 22 homes, which were illegally constructed, will be rebuilt legally elsewhere in tiny Al-Bustan.

But the Palestinians see the proposal to build a tourist center in Al-Bustan as another effort by Israel to lay claim to east Jerusalem by cementing its presence there.

Palestinians want east Jerusalem to be the capital of a future state.

The city's local planning committee will be asked on Monday to approve the necessary rezoning.