(IsraelNN.com) Reports that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu intends to freeze construction in Judea and Samaria for 10 months are eliciting negative reactions among many Likud MKs. MK Danny Danon said in an interview with Israel National Radio's Tovia Singer: “I am very surprised and I hope that it is not true.”

If the freeze is announced, he vowed, “we will demand that he give explanations and we will convene the party's institutions to discuss the decision. We will not agree to be subcontractors for Kadima and Labor.”

'Smokescreen'
"It all seems very strange to me,” Danon said. “On Rosh HaShana they spoke about a freeze in exchange for something in return from the Palestinian side, but meanwhile the opposite is happening. We are giving, yet we are receiving nothing. So why continue the construction freeze? For what, exactly? Are we supposed to hurt all of the communities in order to placate the American president?”

Danon noted that there still has been no statement about the freeze from official sources. "In any case, I have not heard the prime minister talk about a construction freeze and if indeed there is such a statement, we will turn to ministers and try to get explanations as to why they are unilaterally freezing building,” he promised.

The rookie MK said that a majority within Likud favors construction in Judea and Samaria, but explained that a “smokescreen” is preventing people from knowing whether or not the government intends to declare a freeze. “On the ground there is no construction,” he said. “The difficulty is apparent mostly in the big towns like Ariel, where kindergartens are closing, one after the other.”