The Legal Forum for the Land of Israel responded on Tuesday to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s plan to solve the housing crisis, reminding him that a housing crisis also exists in Judea and Samaria and that solving it would solve the whole issue.

In his letter to the Prime Minister, Legal Forum chairman Nachi Eyal wrote, “Like many others, we listened attentively to the plan you presented today with the Finance and Housing ministers to solve the housing shortage in Israel.

“Unfortunately,” wrote Eyal, “the complex solutions and measures presented did not make one reference to an existing problem: the lack of construction in Judea and Samaria.”

Eyal added, “A plan which ignores the housing shortage in Judea and Samaria and the cessation of construction there solely for political considerations of the defense minister is a plan that is lacking. If the government really wanted to lower the housing prices it would allow construction and promote construction in Judea and Samaria.”

The letter adds that the U.S.-imposed construction freeze which began in September 2010 led to a deepening of the housing crisis. It notes that a large part of the housing shortage in Central Israel is due to the Israeli government’s “no-build” policy in Judea and Samaria.

Housing Minister Ariel Attias had warned that Barak could unofficially continue the Judea and Samaria construction freeze by simply neglecting to sign requests for construction. Barak did just that, de facto ending construction in “settlement bloc” communities such as Efrat and Ofra, and thwarting efforts to plan building during the freeze.  

Eyal asked Netanyahu in his letter to order Barak to stop thwarting applications for construction of homes in Judea and Samaria.

“There is no doubt that doing this will make an additional contribution to solving the housing shortage and the high cost of housing throughout the country,” wrote Eyal.