by the Yesha Council, http://myesha.org.il/, translated by Hillel Fendel
After eight long months of a construction freeze whose end did not appear in sight, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu finally agreed to convene a meeting of the Supreme Construction Planning Commission – and the results almost made it worth the wait!
The council met twice in two days to discuss the thousands of housing units that have been waiting on its table since last February. In the end, it approved some 5,500 housing units in over 30 different towns and communities throughout Yesha.
For unknown reasons, Netanyahu did not agree to convene the Planning Commission since this past February, leaving all construction plans in limbo. In recent months, and even more so in recent weeks, the Yesha Council has held conferences, meetings, and talks with the Prime Minister's Office, MKs and Cabinet ministers, applying pressure that ultimately led, at least in part, to the convening of the critical sessions.
The newspaper "Israel Today" (Yisrael HaYom) wrote that this record number (for recent years) of final-stage construction approvals is "a move that would not have been possible without the campaign and the pressure exerted by the Yesha Council and the municipal authorities in Yesha."
The numbers of housing units approved for construction include the following:
In Adam, north of Jerusalem - 357 housing units
Beit El - 382
Yitzhar, north of Tapuach in Shomron - 199
Yakir, east of Karnei Shomron - 74
Kfar Adumim - 132
Kerem Reim, in the Talmon bloc near Modiin - 140 housing units
Meitzad, in southeastern Gush Etzion - 200
Maaleh Ephraim - 69
Maaleh Shomron - 106
Nokdim, eastern Gush Etzion - 205
Nili, near Modiin - 354
Psagot - 24 nits
Shilo - 217
Shim'a - 84
Telem - 157
Kochav Yaakov - 242 housing units and a sports center
In addition, the following are the numbers of construction plans approved for deposit:
Efrat - 191 housing unit plans
Barkan, near Ariel - 28
Har Bracha - 282
Mount Gilo - 560
Kfar Adumim – 58
Kfar Tapuach - 133
Maaleh Mikhmas - 14
Einav - 181
Eli - 629
Peduel - 20
Pnei Kedem - 120
Karnei Shomron - 82
Rimonim - 252
Shim'a – plans for 20 units
The Yesha Council announced in response,
"We are pleased that our efforts have borne fruit and that building permits have been advanced. Construction in the area must never be used as a bargaining chip, [even] for peace agreements. In Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley, construction must continue freely and continuously, without pre-conditions and without political approvals, just as in the rest of the country."
The Yesha Council also reiterated its vision and plans for the coming years: "to bring one million Israeli residents to Judea, Samaria, and the Jordan Valley, via continued construction in the region and by promoting water, electricity, and transportation infrastructures, for the future of Israeli settlement."