Israel Matzav

Netanyahu to freeze construction in Judea and Samaria (Jerusalem too?)

Maariv reports on Tuesday that Prime Minister Netanyahu is going to freeze construction in Judea and Samaria before Sunday's scheduled release of 'Palestinian' terrorists from Israeli prisons.

Unconfirmed "Israeli officials" stated to the daily that the government - which is also set to release 24 more Arab terrorists as part of the negotiations with the Palestinian Authority (PA) - has postponed marketing plans for Judea and Samaria land for the time being. The result: a de facto building freeze in the region.
If true, the news confirms reports that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has been preventing new building in Judea and Samaria, and that the go-ahead for new projects is exclusively in his hands.

On Sunday, Bentzi Liberman, the head of the Israel Lands Authority stated, “the marketing in Judea and Samaria is diplomatic-political, and the Prime Minister is one of the only ones who gives authorizations." 

Approvals for construction in Judea and Samaria “are not in the 2014 work plan,” Liberman said.

In addition, the IDF complained earlier this month that the Prime Minister has been preventing plans from going through which would allow military academies to be built on Mount Scopus. The plans had been approved in 2012, but have been postponed multiple times because of red tape, according to the official. 

"If they had not stopped me, I could have gotten it done a long time ago," says a source involved with the details of the project. "The trouble is that we have reached a situation where nothing can advance in the city without the approval of higher politicians. Sometimes the smallest actions require the approval of the prime minister [himself]," according to the source.

"Only when we release terrorists, or when the Palestinian Authority turns to the United Nations, does the Prime Minister's Office give us permission to build. This is an abnormal situation," the source concluded. 

Maariv quotes a "political source" who insists that the move stems from continuing pressure from Europe and the United States not to link a terrorist release with construction in the region, as Netanyahu has done in the past. The source claims that both foreign national bodies warned that more building would torpedo the ongoing peace talks between Israel and the PA.

Of course, this is absurd. Freezing construction takes away the only incentive the 'Palestinians' might have to negotiate reasonably. It sets up a situation where they have nothing to lose by holding out for maximalist demands.

And the fact that Mount Scopus project has been frozen - despite the fact that Mout Scopus was even part of Israel between 1948-67 - seems to indicate that this time the freeze will apply to Jerusalem as well.

Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, East Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, settlement freeze

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:39 PM