Israel Matzav

What's a 'settlement freeze'?

For those of you who are wondering what a 'settlement freeze' means as a practical matter, this ought to give you an idea.

The new building freeze orders issued beginning Friday are far more serious, because they forbid any building whatsoever – even something as simple as turning a porch into an enclosed room, or adding a floor to an existing home. Residents can, if they wish, request a special permit from the Civil Authority for such construction, which until now was granted by the local authority.

Civil Authority officials began distributing the official orders instituting the building freeze on Friday. The freeze strips local authorities of powers to approve any building within the borders of the area under their jurisdiction, and prohibits construction on any site where a foundation for a building has not yet been dug – even if the site has a building permit.

Among the first local authority heads to receive the orders was Beit El's Rosenbaum , who took the orders and ripped them up. In an interview with Arutz 7, Rosenbaum said he spoke to the director of Prime Minister Binyamin Netayahu's office, Eyal Gabai, and told him that to remind Netanyahu that he needed to keep his promises to voters. "This freeze is shameful," said Rosenbaum. "In the British 'White Paper' there were severe restrictions on the sale of land to Jews, and here a Jewish leader in the state of Israel has undertaken a similar racist policy. I am shocked by this decision," Rosenbaum said.

Disgraceful, isn't it?

Mrs. Carl read me a very clever article about the freeze from Mishpacha Magazine as I was preparing to go to synagogue on Friday evening. Since Mishpacha now requires you to sign your eldest child away in order to access anything on their website (What century are you living in? Name, address and phone number for web site access?), I won't link it.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:41 AM