David Elhayani
David ElhayaniFlash90

The head of the Jordan Valley Regional Council, David Elhayani, spoke with Arutz Sheva about the meeting which took place yesterday between the leaders of the Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

"If we look at all the issues raised there, it was a good meeting and most of the regional council heads expressed satisfaction with the developments in construction," Elhayani said.

He said that the entry of US President Donald Trump into the White House has brought about a positive change in favor of the Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria. We have good American partners who are now allowing us to build close-knit homes. This means that if within a settlement the housing units are filled and they want to expand the settlement, then there is no problem."

"This is a dramatic change from the past few years, and now we, the council heads, have the responsibility to look at the long term and to promote plans even for another year or two. This makes it possible to expand the settlements significantly," Elhayani explained.

According to Elhayani, most of the council heads expressed satisfaction during the meeting with the Prime Minister over the current rate of construction. "Except for Gush Etzion and Beit El, where there are specific problems, most of the mayors are satisfied with the pace of construction."

So when I hear some of the council heads go out and criticize [Netanyahu], I am a little surprised. In the closed conversation, most of them spoke in praise of the prime minister and his steadfastness during the Obama era and how much he is making efforts to strengthen the settlement. I am very sorry that this is not reflected in the media."