Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Flash 90/Abir Sultan)
Israel’s Security Cabinet debated a plan put forth by the prime minister for building apartment units for Palestinians in Area C.
By World Israel News Staff
Israel’s Security Cabinet discussed a plan on Sunday to build housing for Palestinians in Area C, a geographic area comprising 61 percent of Judea and Samaria as set out in the Oslo Accords.
Administration of the area is under full Israeli control.
According to Israel’s public broadcaster, Kan, which broke the news, the discussion was “lengthy and unconventional” as cabinet members expressed reservations about the plan. The report did not detail what those reservations were. The report only said cabinet ministers told Kan that it was “a sensitive issue.”
The news comes in light of a campaign by Regavim, an Israeli NGO focusing on land issues, to expose a “secretive program undertaken by the Palestinian Authority, with massive financial support provided by the European Union, European governments, and other foreign interests” to take over Area C.
“Large-scale planting, creation of irrigation systems, and an enormous network of illegal roads are carving up the open spaces in Judea and Samaria and drawing the borders of a de facto Palestinian state in Israel’s heartland – in flagrant violation of the law,” according to a Regavim report.
Regavim reacted to the news of the cabinet meeting. In a statement, it said:
“As the Palestinian Authority is actively carrying out an illegal takeover of Area C, we hope that this report is inaccurate and that the cabinet hearing did not focus on approving a plan that plays into the hands of Abu Mazen [PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas], a plan that will serve as the silver platter on which he will be handed the terrorist state in the heart of Israel he has dreamed of establishing.”
“Every member of every right-wing party understands that the rampant illegal construction carried out by the Palestinian Authority in Area C poses a strategic and security threat to the State of Israel. Every right-wing member of Knesset should be taking steps to insure that this Arab takeover is halted immediately, through swift and efficient law enforcement. The only place for large-scale construction projects that serve the Arab sector in Judea and Samaria is the area under Palestinian Authority jurisdiction.”
According to Kan, Yesha Council Chairman Hananel Dorney, also responded to the report, saying “Instead of fighting the PA takeover of Area C and destroying the illegal construction raging there, the prime minister raises the possibility of surrendering to the illegal construction and perhaps even approving construction.
“We oppose this strongly and urge cabinet ministers not to support this evil proposal. It is inconceivable that Israeli construction in localities will be conditional on Palestinian construction. The expectation from a right-wing government is on the one hand, enforcement against violators, and on the other to approve Israeli construction without restrictions throughout Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley. “
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