Chairman Avi Dichter of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee said, Tuesday, "This is the time to strengthen construction in Jerusalem, the Jordan Valley and the existing settlements in Judea and Samaria."
Dichter explained, "The freezing of construction has never advanced the Palestinians by one millimeter to negotiations." He was responding to the annual publication of the Yesha Council of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, according to which there was a slowdown in the growth rate of settlement in the region.