Ministers: Settlement freeze akin to Chinese birthrate restrictions
Likud's Erdan, Edelstein demand cabinet be included in any final decision on construction policy in West Bank ahead of Defense Minister Barak's meeting with US envoy Mitchell. 'Freezing construction means freezing the birthrate, and this is befitting of regimes like Mao's in China,' says Edelstein
Any decision on policies regarding construction in West Bank settlements must be first be brought before a broader government forum for discussion, Likud ministers demanded of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday.
Speaking with Ynet before the weekly cabinet meeting, Information and Diaspora Minister Yuli Edelstein said Netanyahu had made clear during an earlier meeting of Likud ministers that Israel "has made no
commitment to freeze construction in Judea and Samaria. Freezing construction means freezing the birthrate, and this is befitting of regimes like Mao's regime in China."
Edelstein acknowledged that it was important to continue talks with Washington "to work out what the real figures are. Either way, any issue regarding a freeze on building should be brought before the government."
Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan, also from Likud, said: "We will absolutely not allow a freeze, even a temporary one, on permanent communities. I don't think that the government has the moral or legal right to damage the settlements."
Erdan suggested that the US administration and the international community realize that there was no reciprocation to Israeli gestures from the Palestinians. "In my meeting with the Palestinian environment minister in Paris last week he refused to cooperate because Ramallah said no. The obstacle here isn't the settlements," he said.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak meanwhile laid out the objectives for his upcoming meeting with US President Barack Obama's special envoy to the Middle East, Senator George Mitchell. "The goal is to
promote a broader understanding between us and the United States, to promote the regional agreement that we are very supportive of, and to find a shared path that is acceptable to us, the United States, and the other parties," Barak said.
On Saturday settler leaders called for an urgent meeting with Netanyahu to express their dismay over what they called a de-facto freeze on construction. The settlers said that for months now not a single building proposal has been authorized.
