Efrat City Council Member Moshe Cohen, a member of the Likud Central Committee, is pushing an initiative in the party to make Minister without portfolio Benny Begin Minister for Settlement Affairs in Judea and Samaria when the freeze on Jewish building in the area expires. Interviewed on Arutz Sheva's Hebrew journal, Cohen said he expects Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to declare an end to the freeze, but Defense Minister Ehud Barak will continue to observe it. He said that it's important for the public to know that Barak is in control and that Netanyahu take that control away.

Cohen said that Begin could advance construction if given the authority, based on remarks made during visits to the city.