Netanyahu's Office Denies Approving Hundreds of New Settlement Housing Units

[Israeli]

Denying settlement construction, a highly irregular move by Netanyahu, apparently stems from the Palestinian UN bid to condemn settlement building, but MK Tzipi Livni says it is also an admission that settlement construction harms Israel's security.

Barak Ravid Apr 14, 2016

The Prime Minister's Office denied on Thursday that Israel has approved hundreds of new housing units in West Bank settlements and said it merely okayed permits for home improvements.

On Wednesday, Haaretz reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon gave their okay to move forward with the construction of hundreds of housing units in West Bank settlements, including a number in isolated outposts.

(snip)

A denial by Netanyahu concerning settlement construction is considered highly unusual. The reason behind the publishing of the statement seems to be the Palestinian effort to advance a UN Security Council resolution condemning the settlements and declaring them illegal.

(snip)

In response to Netanyahu's office's statement, Zionist Union Knesset member Tzipi Livni said: "When the prime minister announces today that he is not actually building in the settlements, he is admitting that settlement construction harms security. All that remains is to demonstrate courage [and] say it out loud rather than playing games."

read more: http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.714412

[azurnoir]

1. But will he "demonstrate courage" or is he simply biding time for more favorable conditions?

[Little Tich]

2. Netanyahu Claimed That New Building Plans Wouldn't Expand Israeli Settlements; Aerial Photos Prove

Otherwise

Source: Haaretz

Netanyahu's office claimed that plans approved this week were for renovation of existing buildings, but Haaretz checked – and it turns out the prime minister got it wrong.

Responding to a report in Thursday's Haaretz that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had approved the construction in West Bank Jewish settlements of hundreds of new housing units, the Prime Minister's Office issued a statement denying the report, saying that other than the settlement of Ganei Modi'in, "almost all of the approvals are designed to upgrade existing structures," rather than new construction, as reported.

However a review of the relevant plans, as well as aerial photos taken of the sites involved, reveal that the statement from Netanyahu's office is not entirely accurate. For example, in the settlement of Nokdim, south of Bethlehem, some 70 new housing units were approved.

The agenda of the Higher Planning Council of the Civil Administration, which is responsible for planning oversight in West Bank settlements, refers to the work as involving the removal of mobile structures and their replacement with permanent buildings, as well as a change in zoning from designation as desert to a residential area. Aerial photographs of the area reveal that about 20 mobile homes on the site, placed their without a permit, are now being replaced by 70 housing units.

In the settlement of Tekoa, just to the west, 200 housing units in a new neighborhood were also approved. Plans for the neighborhood underwent a number of iterations. A previous plan that was approved was scrapped due to the proximity of the homes to the Nahal Tekoa nature reserve. However, on the ground, the aerial photos show 40 homes and another 30 or so mobile homes, meaning that "the upgrading of existing structures" includes a substantial expansion of the built-up area in the settlement.

Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.714542