The building freeze throughout Yehuda and Shomron continues. No less than 14,000 housing units for Palestinian residents of areas ‘C’ have been approved. As per the Oslo Agreements, area ‘C’ designation is an area of Yehuda and Shomron under total Israeli control – security and civil matters. The construction will take place in Kalkilye, doubling the number of housing units in the city. The actual city is designated area ‘A’, under total PA control, but surrounded by an area ‘C’. alternatively, for the 450,000 Jewish residents of Yehuda and Shomron the government is building 2,000 units.

While leaders of the Jewish communities in Yehuda and Shomron are calling for construction, they are being told by the Prime Minister’s Office “this is simply the implementation of a plan approved by the Defense Minister last year as well as by the cabinet. Since then, 10,000 housing units were planned and approved for the Jewish sector so there is no validity to the allegations, which are absurd”.

The head of the Shomron Regional Council, Yossi Dagan states, “This is a disgrace. While only 66 housing units have been approved in the Shomron Regional Council by the planning committee, the political echelon decides to grant the city of terror Kalkilye the ultimate terror award: doubling the area and doubling the population. And I ask if this government has lost its brakes. Have you gone completely mad? Is there no limit to the lack of credibility? It is impossible to continue speaking in two voices. To claim in the morning that we are doing everything for the settlement and in the evening to stop construction in the settlements and to promote Arab construction. We will not be able to allow the government to continue with this deception.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)