Construction in settlement
Photo courtesy of Peace Now
CBS: Settlement construction plummets
Central Bureau of Statistics reports dramatic 33.8% drop in settlement construction in first half of 2009, compared to same period last year
Dramatic drop in settlement construction. According to data by the Central Bureau of Statistics published this week, construction in settlements dropped 33.8% in the first half of 2009.
The data showed that between the months January – June 2009, construction of 672 housing units in the West Bank was started, compared to 1,015 for the same period last year.
According to the data, 411 of the housing units built this year, are either one or two story apartments. The numbers also showed that a 5.8% drop in the number of housing units completed in the first half of the year compared to 2008.
Freezing construction in the settlements has been a controversial matter within the government.
Minister for Regional Development Silvan Shalom on Thursday expressed his opposition to such a freeze, which is being stipulated by the Americans as a precondition for renewed peace talks with the Palestinians.
Minister Yossi Peled said Tuesday that the government had no plans to freeze construction in the settlements or in Jerusalem. "I have heard with my own ears that there is no agreement on freezing construction in settlements," he said.
Speaking at a conference labeled 'Preserving Jerusalem and the Golan Heights', Peled said he heard while visiting Germany with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that "Jews will continue to live and build in Jerusalem".
As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is forced to deal with pressure at home against a settlement freeze, world leaders continue to reiterate their demand for an immediate halt in construction.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said last week before her meeting with Netanyahu in Berlin, that Israel must show more willingness for a compromise.
German government spokesman Klaus Vater said the government advocates that "no further settlements be built in the occupied areas."
