’Israel’ to End Freeze with Hundreds of New Settlement Units

Local Editor

The subcommittee for settlements within the so-called ""Israeli" Civil Administration" was expected to approve on Wednesday the construction of hundreds of settlement units in the occupied West Bank, ending a year-long unofficial freeze.

The subcommittee's hearing will also deal with the two Dreinoff buildings in "Beit El" settlement, after a Supreme Court ruling to demolish them by the end of the month led to wide-scale protest from settlers.

Over the past week, settlers upped their rhetoric against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and War Minister Moshe Ya'alon, who they say gave the order to freeze construction in the besieged West Bank.

They sent a letter to Likud MKs with the headline "Netanyahu is suffocating the settlements and the Likud remains silent?"

The settlers asserted that a decision in their favor at the subcommittee meeting will be an attempt by the war minister to fix the strained relationship between the settlers and the prime minister.

The freeze in settlement construction came to the fore last week when, according to settler leaders, Netanyahu told them: "We cannot develop the settlements further, but rather need to preserve what we have."

Further, the Likud party denied the comment attributed to Netanyahu, while the head of the "Har Hebron regional council", Yochai Damari, said that "the ramifications of deciding to freeze settlement planning and building in Samaria will hurt many communities."

The subcommittee is expected to approve, along with the Dreinoff buildings, some 296 settlement units to be built on land near "Beit El"; in addition to the construction of 112 settlement units in "Ma'aleh Adumim", 381 in "Givat Ze'ev" and 27 other units in "Beit Aryeh" settlement in the southwestern Samaria.

Nonetheless, the subcommittee will also receive requests to approve dozens of settlement units that have already been built in "Psagot", and 22 units in "Giv'on HaHadasha"; as well as plans for the development of industrial area and the expansion of lots.

Accordingly, a Left-wing "NGO Peace Now" group expressed resentment towards the construction of new settlement units stating that "It is a black day" whereby "the settlers' threats have proven themselves once again and the government is once again accelerating construction across the territories and in isolated settlements. "

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team