Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told ministers during a recent meeting of the political-security cabinet that he was “surprised by the intense US pressure against construction in Judea and Samaria,” Army Radio reported on Wednesday. “It’s critical to them,” Bennett added.

Bennett, a former director of the Yesha Council, said that the Biden administration focused intensely on the issue during his visit to Washington in August.

It’s “surprising” that Bennett, who led the battle against the construction freeze in Judea and Samaria during his tenure at the Yesha Council during the term of former president Barack Obama, when Joe Biden was serving as vice-president, was surprised by this.

In fact, it was during Bennett’s tenure as Yesha Council head when the “Ramat Shlomo debacle” took place. In 2010, a diplomatic gaffe occurred when Israeli authorities announced plans to build hundreds of new homes in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo during the visit of then Vice-President Biden, embarrassing and infuriating him, and leading to a deterioration of ties between Netanyahu and Obama. Although the incident was about east Jerusalem rather than Judea and Samaria, the concept of not “provoking” the Palestinians remains the same.

Religious Zionist Party MK Simcha Rotman responded to the report by cynically stating: “Naftali Bennett is also surprised that there’s an Iranian threat and that COVID is a pandemic that can’t be solved within five weeks.”

Gush Etzion Regional Council chairman Shlomo Ne’eman said: “The US pressure against Jewish construction isn’t new but our settlement in Yehuda and Shomron is forever. We expect every prime minister to stand up for eternal values against pressure from parties with momentary political interests. Kal v’chomer we expect this from the prime minister who is the leader of the Yamina party and the former head of the Yesha Council, who was elected by the votes he received, among others, from our communities.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)