by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
A new bill to be presented in the Knesset Sunday proposes that a building freeze would require the approval of legislators. The measure is to be sponsored by National Union Knesset Member Uri Ariel and MK Carmel Shama of the Likud party.
The “mini-Cabinet” last year instituted a 10-month building freeze that prevents construction by Jews in Judea and Samaria.
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has demanded a permanent building freeze as a condition for direct talks with Israel for transforming the PA into a new country on all of the land restored to Israel in the Six-Day War in 1967. Abbas also wants the freeze extended to areas in Jerusalem where the PA demands sovereignty.
U.S. President Barack Obama has supported the PA claims, describing Jewish neighborhoods in eastern, southern and northern Jerusalem as “settlements.”
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu promised last year that the 10-month freeze would be temporary. The freeze, which is to expire in September, also bans new public buildings without the permission of Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who has refused the establishment of more than a dozen classroom buildings in Judea and Samaria despite overcrowded conditions.
If the Knesset approves a law that requires legislative approval for extending the building freeze, it would represent a major defeat for Barak, who heads the 13-member Labor party that is part of the government coalition. The Obama administration has warmly received Barak twice in the past three months despite denials that it is trying to undermine the Netanyahu government. (IsraelNationalNews.com)
