PM reportedly instructs Housing and Construction Minister to freeze units announced in wake of Trump inauguration.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu ordered Housing and Construction Minister Yoav Galant to freeze thousands of housing units which Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman had recently approved for construction in Judea and Samaria, it was reported Wednesday.
Netanyahu and Liberman had issued two announcements that a total of 5,500 housing units would be constructed in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria shortly after US President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January. 2,000 of the units were to be available to be marketed immediately.
The Defense Ministry said in a statement at the time of the second announcement that “The decision comes as part of the resumption of normal life in Judea and Samaria and in order to provide a real answer to living and housing needs in the region.”
“We are in a new time period in which life in Judea and Samaria is returning to normal, and we will provide an appropriate response to the needs of the residents of the region,” said Liberman.
A partial list of communities where housing units have been approved includes: 700 in Alfei Menashe, 200 in Oranit, 50 in Nofim, 650 in Beit Aryeh, 30 in Efrat, 150 in Nokdim, 150 in Givat Ze’ev, 70 in Shavei Shomron, 100 in Karnei Shomron, 100 in Shilo, 100 in Metzudot Yehuda, 80 in Kfar Eldad, and 650 in Beitar Illit.
President Trump asked Netanyahu to “hold back on on settlements for a little bit” when the Prime Minister visited him last month.
I think that the outside Arabs asked for this freeze as a condition for them entering serious talks. Even so Netanyahu should have refused.
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I think that Netanyhu has made a huge mistake here which may impinge on his re-election hopes. Firstly, he certa\inly has NO intention of resigning, unless he’s found guilty and gaoled. But they have been trying to get both himself and his wife for many years, in what might be called an obsessive frebzy. He is too clever to commit crimes, he doesn’t need the wealth and knows he “can’t take ot with him. Power and international respect are what he likes, and gets.
BUT….. his big mistake here was to “freeze” meaning calling to a complete halt, all building. For example, he could have arranged with Trump to finish the buildings already in progress, and/or continued sharply cut down building without fanfare. I believe that Trump would have understood this, especially if he made the point that a freeze would lose him the next election, whetehr it would or not. The point is that Israel is bursating at the seams and NEEDS space for the expanding population, and it’s such a small country.
One thing that puzzles me about him. He practices REAL POLITIK very well, but, considering Israel has large Haredi/orthodox capable of disruption for ever0, which will NEVER accept giving away part of Eretz Yisrael, his strange insistence on 2 states …..unless HIS idea of 2 states, which he never spells out aloud, means Israel and Jordan. He keeps his cards close to his chest and doesn’t conduct his machinations in the public press….except for the part that he nees for PR, or can’t avoid.
Second-guessing is fruitless with Netanyahu, for the onlookers, which is all that we are.
Great news for real estate speculators!
No doubt that protected class includes numerous Israeli politicians and their cronies.
Also apparently there is a new investigation to discover what happened to Natanyahu’s and Liberman’s spines which have mysteriously vanished after trips to US.
Furthermore, any assumed detente with the Sunni Arab States such as Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar and Kuwait is chimerical. More development not less development will bring peace when the Arabs give up, but not until then. Their hatred and fear of Iran is less than their Jew-hatred, Israel-hatred and anti-Semitism. Bibi, like Trump, thinks that Iran has changed the mosaic. It has not: witness the revelation this month that Saudi Arabia paid for half of the Second Intifada by the Palestinian Arabs along with the revelation that Qatar has been the major financier of Al-Qaida. Deep thinking and long strategy are lacking.
@ Sebastien Zorn:
We will see. Israel politics is very strange and mergers do not happen so easy. That is because some people will lose power and some even their Knesset seats.
@ Bear Klein:
I agree. I read that Jewish Home is merging with Likud and Bennett is running now to reaffirm his leadership position in Jewish Home first in order to stop the rise of Lapid. Maybe, then, if BB steps down from Likud leadership, Bennett can take his place and they could form a coalition with Feiglin’s new party, Zehut. That would be promising.
The argument that concessions have to be made to get cooperation from some Moslem states against Iran and Islamic State is not supported by history. Moslems have always retreated when the West has taken a stand. Also, they are worried about their own survival. It’s all about “the enemy of my enemy is my “friend.”” with these “people.” We have no shared values.
whats more important? iran or JEWS and ISRAEL? iran is the very most important for ISRAELS p m. as it hides his failures as non elected leader of ISRAEL. the party was elected on the leaders failed promises. could not get the words out of his mouth 2 states quick enough. but then with an american upbringing he’s the master of the lie.
There are two issues causing this freeze. One Israel accepting pressure by foreigners no matter how well being. In this case it is the Trump Administration.
Trump is another one of another long list of the POTUS who believe they are so smart they can solve the issue via diplomacy. This shows how little he know about the subject.
The Israeli government lead by Netenyahu instead of saying there will never be two states no matter the formula is giving up Israeli rights. Minimally they should be presenting Trump with we are not moving from the Judea/Samaria settlement so we will keep building within the borders of each settlement. The Prime Minister needs to resign he is busy defending himself and not the State of Israel. I smell a version 2.0 of Sharon.