Settlers protest construction freeze
Photo: AFP
Settlers vow to violate freeze order
Settlers reject ban on Jewish life in heart of country, Yesha Council chairman says in emergency meeting; struggle is not only over Land of Israel, but also over Bankruptcy of Israeli democracy, Likud MK Hotovely says
Settlers in Judea and Samaria will be violating the government order to halt settlement construction, Yesha Council Chairman Danny Dayan said Saturday.
"We will violate the freeze order and we're willing to pay the price," Dayan said during an emergency meeting in the West Bank settlement of Ofra.
Speaking to the hundreds of participants in the meeting, Dayan stressed that the settlers' struggle is not intended to gain concessions or mitigate the decision, but rather, is meant to annul the freeze order in full.
"We do not accept a policy that forbids Jews to live in the heart of the country," he said. "This decision neither offers minimal logic nor adheres to any Zionist principle that Netanyahu espoused."
Meanwhile, the head of the Binyamin Regional Council, Avi Ro'eh, slammed the freeze decision for applying only to Jews, saying that "we must not adhere to this order."
'Struggle for Israeli democracy'
Likud Knesset Member Tzipi Hotovely also attended the emergency session, stating that "this struggle is not only over the Land of Israel, but also over the bankruptcy of Israeli democracy.""Likud is deviating from its path and the prime minister is deviating from his path," she said. "It's a disgraceful and pathetic excuse to say that the American pressure prompted the freeze. This struggle must expand. We must enlist more Knesset members and ministers…We must rouse Likud members."
Meanwhile, security officials are preparing for the possibility that the settler struggle against the construction freeze will escalate in the coming week, among other reasons because authorities plan to hand out freeze orders at West Bank outposts.
