Peace Now: Plans advanced for 2,000 settler homes
The Higher Planning Council for Judea and Samaria approved and advanced plans for 1,958 settler homes on Wednesday, according to the left-wing group Peace Now.
Settlers said the number of plans was more in the area of 2,500.
Last week Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman pledged to advance and approve 3,900 units.
It’s expected that the Construction Ministry will also issue tenders for construction, to bring the number of new homes close to the pledged amount.
Gush Etzion Regional Council head Shlomo Ne’eman welcomed the approvals but said that more building is needed and called on the government to remove all restrictions on building in Judea and Samaria.
“We need a lot more [homes]! We will continue to submit more and more plans. We will continue to build, we will continue to develop Gush Etzion, and we will work toward full sovereignty,” he said.
Mount Hebron Regional Council head Yochai Damri issued a jubilant message in which he thanked the Higher Planning Council for approving a master plan for the settlement of Negahot, some 20 years after the creation of the community.
He also welcomed the decision to expand the communities in his region, where permits have been few and far between.
“Today, more than ever, even the Left understands that our presence here provides security for Israeli citizens,” Damri said.
Peace Now attacked the approvals, stating that it damaged “the chances of peace in the context of a two-state solution” and harmed “the lives of the Palestinians.”
It warned that settlement growth is particularly harmful to the two-state solution.
“It is precisely the number of settlers in the settlements that is crucial, since ultimately Israel’s biggest challenge in a two-state agreement is the evacuation of tens of thousands of people,” Peace Now explained.