In honor of Jerusalem Day on Sunday and the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem on Monday, the government held its weekly meeting on Sunday in the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opened the meeting by expressing his joy over Israel's win in the Eurovision song contest and its effect that Israel will host the event in 2019.
"These days Jerusalem is being blessed with many gifts," he said.
"This week we will be blessed with a truly historical event and this is the decision of the greatest major power in the world, our friend the United States, to move its embassy here," he said.
"President Trump promised to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel – and did so. He promised to move the American Embassy – and is doing so. Of course, we will all celebrate this day tomorrow [Monday], it is truly a celebration. Afterward, two additional embassies – Guatemala and Paraguay – will come here and others are on the way.
"It is not for nothing that we are marking Jerusalem Day today [Sunday] at the Bible Lands Museum. Jerusalem is mentioned in the Bible approximately 650 times. The reason is simple: For over 3,000 years, it has been the capital of our people, and only of our people.
"We dreamed of returning to rebuild it, the city that is joined together – this is exactly what we are doing today. We will make a series of decisions to build up and develop Jerusalem, east and west, north and south, in all directions – to both reveal its past and build its future. I know that there will be difficulties along the way; there have been difficulties for the past 70 years. We have met them since 1949 and up to recent years. We will also meet them in the future.
"Jerusalem above and Jerusalem below, we are bound to this city. It is part of our soul, part of our experience, on both our material and spiritual sides.
"I am certain that all ministers feel as I do regarding the major events that are currently taking place. We are honoring the words of the prophet [Joel 4:20], 'But Judah shall be inhabited forever and Jerusalem from generation to generation.'"
During the festive meeting, the government voted to invest 50 million shekels ($14 million) in a plan to regulate Jerusalem's infrastructure and overall advancement.
The initiative, sponsored by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Habayit Hayehudi), aims to regulate land registration in east Jerusalem.
Shaked said the initiative, which will be supervised by the Land Registry and Settlement of Rights Department at the Justice Ministry, will mark the first time since the capital's reunification in the 1967 Six-Day War that the state will impose its de facto sovereignty on east Jerusalem.
The plan will enable the orderly resolution of land disputes in east Jerusalem, she said. It aims to resolve at least half the issues by 2021 and the rest by 2025.
Also on Sunday, State Comptroller Yosef Shapira issued a report reviewing the government's efforts to promote Jerusalem's social and economic advancement.
"For years, the government has allocated Jerusalem a special grant derived from its status as the capital, but the amount of this grant is determined arbitrarily through negotiations between the government and the Jerusalem Municipality," Shapira wrote.
"This method of budgeting is professionally and administratively lacking and it makes it difficult for the municipality to plan its budget."
