Barak to head team on construction freeze
Team including Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Minister Benny Begin convenes for first time Friday to discuss implementation of construction freeze in settlements
A team headed by Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Minister Benny Begin will examine the implementation of the cabinet's decision to freeze construction in settlements for a period of 10 month, the Prime Minister's Office reported on Friday.
The newly formed team convened for the first time on Friday, and it included Cabinet Secretary Zvi Hauser and Coordinator of the Government's Activities in the Territories Major-General Eitan Dangot.
The purpose of the team, as defined by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – is to examine the ways in which the freeze orders are being implemented while taking into account the needs of the residents of the settlements in question and meeting the cabinet's conditions.
The formation of the new team came as a result of pressure from settlers and right-wing parties on cabinet ministers, mainly Barak and Netanyahu, in the past week.
The settlers have argued that the government did not allow them a suitable period of time to deal with the freeze orders, and also cited the severe economic blow that could follow a construction freeze.
The settlers have also demanded easements on their daily routines and in tackling the technical and procedural problems that arise as a result of the construction freeze orders.
On Thursday, 14 local Jewish councils in the West Bank filed a petition with the High Court of Justice against Central Command Chief Avi Mizrahi, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a motion to revoke the settlement freeze orders.
The petitioners claimed that the orders were based on political considerations beyond the army commander's authority.
The petition came following the prime minister's attempts to reconcile with the settler representatives, which left them disappointed.
During the three-hour meeting, Netanyahu told the settler heads, "You are allowed to protest, to express your opinion, but you must uphold the law. You can't not honor it. We need to work together and cooperate.
"Instead of creating the feeling of a crisis, we should all get through the suspension period together. We are just a few days into the process and I hope you demonstrate patience." The settler heads were unimpressed by the PM's comments and say they would continue to oppose the freeze.
"This order is not easy for you and it's not easy for me. We will work to ensure that its implementation is carried out in way that makes things as easy as possible on the public. Any place where there are unnecessary hurdles – we will remove them. The decision made by the cabinet is the optimal decision in the complex reality the State of Israel is in, in light of the complex challenges we face," he added.
"We made this difficult decision in order to promote Israel's broader interests. This move makes it clear to main bodies in the world, that Israel is serious about its intentions to achieve peace. This, while the Palestinians refuse to open peace negotiations. There is a party that wants it and there is a party that doesn't want it. This move will make it clear who those who refuse peace are."
