Ramat Shlomo ( he, רמת שלמה, lit. Shlomo's or Solomon's Heights) is an

Israeli settlement Israeli settlements, or Israeli colonies, are civilian communities inhabited by Israeli citizens, overwhelmingly of Jewish ethnicity, built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community considers Israeli se ...

East Jerusalem East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the sector of Jerusalem that was held by Jordan during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to the western sector of the city, West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Jerusalem was envisaged as a separat ...

. The population, mostly ultra-Orthodox, is 20,000. Ramat Shlomo was built on land occupied by Israel since its capture from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War and is considered by the international community to be an

. The international community considers Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.

History

According to ARIJ, Israel confiscated land from the nearby Palestinian villages in order to construct Ramat Shlomo: *1,494

dunam A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; tr, dönüm; he, דונם), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area equivalent to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amount ...

s from Shuafat, *232 dunams from Beit Hanina,Beit Hanina Town Profile
pp. 13-14 *53 dunams from Beit Hanina el Balad (the old town)-Beit Hanina al Balad Village Profile
ARIJ, 2012, pp. 16-17 Ramat Shlomo was founded in 1995. It borders Ramot to the west, Har Hotzvim to the south, and Shuafat to the east. Initially called ''Reches Shuafat'' (Shuafat Ridge), it was later named for Rabbi

Shlomo Zalman Auerbach Shlomo Zalman Auerbach ( he, שלמה זלמן אויערבאך; July 20, 1910 – February 20, 1995) was a renowned Orthodox Jewish rabbi, posek, and rosh yeshiva of the Kol Torah yeshiva in Jerusalem. The Jerusalem neighborhood Ramat Shlomo i ...

.Ramat Shlomo on the Jerusalem Municipality site
/ref> Teddy Stadium was initially planned for Ramat Shlomo, but in the wake of Haredi protests the stadium and sports complex was moved to Jerusalem's Malha neighbourhood. Less than 200 meters separate the neighborhood's furthermost houses from the first row of homes in Shuafat and Beit Hanina. In June 2008, Israel's interior ministry approved construction of an additional 1,300 apartments in Ramat Shlomo. Israel says that most of the building is on land annexed by the state and thus does not violate its commitment not to build on disputed land. In March 2010, the Jerusalem municipality approved the construction of an additional 1,600 apartments in Ramat Shlomo. The announcement coincided with the visit of U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden, angering the U.S. government and prompting the

Palestinian Authority The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine,

to pull out of US-brokered indirect "proximity talks" intended to revive the

Israeli–Palestinian peace process The Israeli–Palestinian peace process refers to the intermittent discussions held by various parties and proposals put forward in an attempt to resolve the ongoing Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Since the 1970s, there has been a parallel ef ...

. The European Union was also critical of the decision. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu replied that Israel's policy on building in Jerusalem was the same policy followed by all Israeli governments over the past 42 years, and had not changed. In October 2014, Netanyahu approved the construction of 660 additional units, followed by an additional 500 in November. In November 2015 Netanyahu gave approval to begin marketing the 1,000 properties.

Political status

The neighborhood is across the

Green Line Green Line may refer to: Places Military and political * Green Line (France), the German occupation line in France during World War II * Green Line (Israel), the 1949 armistice line established between Israel and its neighbours ** City Line ( ...

on land occupied by Israel since its capture from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed to Israel in a move not recognized by the international community.
"Ramat Shlomo, built 15 years ago, is on land captured in the West Bank in 1967 and annexed to Israel in a move not recognised by the international community."
"The international community considers East Jerusalem occupied territory. Building on occupied land is illegal under international law, but Israel regards East Jerusalem – which it annexed in 1967 – as its territory." As such it is considered an

by the international community. Israel disputes this and considers Ramat Shlomo to be a neighborhood within the Israeli designated borders of Jerusalem. The New York Times printed an article referring to Ramat Shlomo as a settlement in the West Bank and two days later issued a correction, stating that " is a neighborhood in East Jerusalem, not a settlement in the West Bank". The international community considers Israeli settlements to be illegal under international law, violating the

Fourth Geneva Convention The Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, more commonly referred to as the Fourth Geneva Convention and abbreviated as GCIV, is one of the four treaties of the Geneva Conventions. It was adopted in Augus ...

's prohibition on transferring civilian population into territory held under military occupation. Israel disputes that East Jerusalem is occupied territory and rejects that settlements are illegal.

Archaeology

A quarry from the period of the

Second Temple The Second Temple (, , ), later known as Herod's Temple, was the reconstructed Temple in Jerusalem between and 70 CE. It replaced Solomon's Temple, which had been built at the same location in the United Kingdom of Israel before being inherited ...

was found at Ramat Shlomo. King Herod is believed to have used stones from this quarry for his massive construction project to expand the Temple Mount. Giant stones extracted from the quarry weighed several tons. Jewish tombs have also been discovered in Ramat Shlomo dating to this period.

Landmarks

The facade of the Chabad Synagogue in Ramat Shlomo is a replica of Lubavitch World Headquarters, known simply as "770" at 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, New York.Ramat Shlomo residents don’t understand what all the fuss is about
/ref>

References

{{Coord, 31, 48, 37.72, N, 35, 13, 4.97, E, display=title Neighbourhoods of Jerusalem Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem