Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s Chief of Staff, Yoav Horowitz, is off to Washington, DC for talks addressing construction in Yehuda and Shomron. Together with Israel’s Ambassador to Washington Ron Dermer, they hope to reach understandings regarding construction in communities in Yehuda and Shomron.

In recent talks in Jerusalem between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and President Donald’s Trumps special advisor Jason Greenblatt, progress was reported but the sides did not reach agreement.

Settlements leaders and the Bayit Yehudi party are angry with PM Netanyahu, insisting Israel is a sovereign nation and it does not require third-party permission for construction, not even from the US. They blame Mr. Netanyahu for complicating the situation for they feel Trump has already signaled the go-ahead for construction during his early days in office but he was halted by Bibi following eight years of a construction freeze in those areas under the Barak Obama administration.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)