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'No tenders have been issued for building inside or outside the settlement blocs, nor in east Jerusalem,' Attias said

Despite all the talk about continued building in settlement blocs, Housing Minister Ariel Attias said Tuesday night that since becoming Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu has not authorized construction of one new home in Judea, Samaria, or neighborhoods of Jerusalem over the green line. "No tenders have been issued for building inside or outside the settlement blocs, nor in eastern Jerusalem," Attias said in a television interview.

Attias' comments contradict statements by Netanyahu, who claims that hundreds of homes in the settlement blocs are under construction. According to Netanyahu, Israel has not implemented a building freeze in the settlement blocs, and intends to complete construction of some 3,000 housing units that have already been approved.

In an interview last week with the Al-Hura, an Arabic-language news station operated by the U.S. government, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that Netanyahu had, in a recent meeting, agreed to halt all construction over the green line. He also agreed not to issue new permits for construction.

Responding to queries by Israel National News to the Clinton interview, Netanyahu's office said that "the Prime Minister has stated his position on these matters many times since his Bar-Ilan University speech last June. The Prime Minister stresses that he is committed to ensuring a normal life for residents of Judea and Samaria. With that, he said that he was prepared to curb construction for a specific period in order to jumpstart the peace process with the Palestinians."