Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat rejected the US demand for halting of construction in Jerusalem and announced that he would not lend a hand to this, for the sake of Jews or Arabs.

"Israeli law does not discriminate between Jews and Arabs, east and west," he said. "The demand to halt construction by Jews alone is illegal, even for the US. Jerusalem Municipality will continue to allow construction in all parts of the city, for Arabs and Jews according to one law." (Ronen Medzini)