Al-Rowaidhi said in a press statement that “there are high-level contacts with the Jordanian government to intervene and stop the Israeli measures at the hotel.”
On Wednesday, the Israeli daily Haaretz said that the Israeli government is planning to add some 70 rooms to the Seven Arches (formerly Intercontinental) Hotel. The hotel is located on Mount of Olives which overlooks Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest shrine in Islam.
The report said that the Jordanian royal family built the Seven Arches Hotel before Israel occupied East Jerusalem in June 1967 War. Now, the Israeli Custodian of Absentee Property is officially responsible for the hotel’s financial management and maintenance.
According to the report, the custodian allowed Miloslavsky Architects to begin promoting a significant expansion of the hotel, from 12,000 square meters to more than 20,000, adding 45 rooms in the north wing, 30 rooms in the south wing, a conference hall and a swimming pool.
The hotel, a main building with seven arches and two wings connected to it by colonnades, was planned by American architect William Tabler and was operated originally by the international Intercontinental chain. In the 1960s, it was considered the most luxurious hotel in Jerusalem, and in 1964, it hosted the founding conference of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Haaretz said that the hotel serves mainly as a pilgrims’ hostel and hosts family events.
Al-Rowaidhi said the move “may lead to the confiscation of properties of Arab families and governments in Jerusalem.”
The official added that Israel tried to carry out construction work in the hotel seven years ago but delayed the plan after Jordan protested.
For his part, the chairman of Jerusalem’s municipal control committee Pepe Alalu said that the plan is another attempt by the Israeli government to torpedo peace talks.
Alalu, of leftist Israeli Meretz party, called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop the plan before it is brought to the planning authorities.
Israel captured East Jerusalem in the June 1967 War, annexed it, and has since built settlements there that are home to more than 200,000 Israelis.
Control over the city has been seen as the most sensitive and thorniest issue of Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Palestinians hope to make East Jerusalem the capital of their future state but the Israel says the city is its eternal capital.
