Peace Now held a rally on Thursday afternoon, calling to extend the prohibition on Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria. The location selected was Neria, a small Jewish town in the Binyamin region.
Neria, like other Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria, has been affected by the freeze. The hundreds of thousands of Israeli Jews living in Judea and Samaria have been unable to add to their homes, or build new classrooms for their schools, for several months. Families interested in building permanent homes in the area have also been unable to realize their goals.
The situation has exacerbated a national housing shortage that has seen prices rise by 15% in just one year.
The Peace Now protesters suggested that towns like Neria are the reason that the Palestinian Authority and Israel have not yet signed a peace accord, saying, “Build Peace, Not Settlements.” They argued that renewing Jewish construction would undermine chances to create a PA state in Judea and Samaria.
Israel announced a 10-month construction freeze last year in an attempt to draw the PA to the negotiating table. PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas agreed to hold negotiations in August of this year, in the ninth month of the freeze, but has now demanded that the freeze continue or he will withdraw from talks.
Earlier in the week a local guard attempted to block Peace Now from entering Neria to tour the site in advance of its planned rally. He informed police accompanying Peace Now that he would not open the town's gate for their van.
The guard was arrested. Police said they had suggested alternatives to arrest, but that the guard had refused. The guard does not have the right to refuse entrance to people who do not pose an immediate security threat, they argued.