On Wednesday, Yediot Acharonot broke the news that Defense Minister and alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz is currently working to retroactively authorize approximately 1,700 homes located in Judea and Samaria that were built by residents and deemed illegal by the state.

According to Yediot, the move is the most recent attempt of the current government to deal with the phenomenon of unauthorized Jewish homes in Judea and Samaria.

An attempt was previously made by the government to pass legislation that would have retroactively legalized 4,000 homes, some of which were built on private land owned by Palestinians. The attempt was ruled to be unconstitutional by the High Court of Justice.

Leader of the Yesha movement and politicians from Right-wing parties have been pressuring Prime Minister Netanyahu to find an alternate way to legalize the homes.

Gantz’s initiative only deals with structures that were built on state-owned land, and that were deemed to be questionable only after they were constructed.

David Elhayeni, who serves as the Yesha Council chairman said that retroactive authorization was of primary importance, and called on the Gantz to provide more manpower for the Civil Administration, which is chronically understaffed. Elhayeni said that the Civil Administration needs the extra manpower in order to deal with the bureaucracy of authorizing the homes.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)