Yossi Dagan
Yossi DaganYonatan Sindel/Flash90

Samaria Regional Council Head Yossi Dagan on Sunday attacked Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) for his remarks at the beginning of the Knesset's weekly meeting.

Dagan, who was one of the politicians who brought about Liberman's appointment as Defense Minister.

Liberman was chosen to replace former Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon in May 2016.

Dagan contradicted Liberman's claim that 8,300 housing units had been approved for construction in Judea and Samaria, and said the municipal leaders were throwing out inaccurate numbers.

"I very much respect the Defense Minister, but unfortunately, the numbers he is citing are incorrect," Dagan said. "The vast majority of housing units mentioned are being counted five or six times."

"The true numbers are less than 2,000 housing units in Judea and Samaria.

"Meanwhile, the government approved over 20,000 housing units for Arabs in Area C.

"I ask that this government, a nationalist government, wake up and stop its policy of a de facto building freeze.

"The changes must be in actions, not just in words."

On Sunday morning, Liberman said, "What we approved on June 6 and 7 is the maximum that can be approved, and the figures speak for themselves, down to the level of detail of a single family unit: Only last week, on June 6 and 7, a total of 3,651 housing units were approved, of them 671 for immediate construction."

"From 1 January 2017 to the present, a total of 8,345 houses have been approved, of which 3,066 are for immediate construction, and the figures for the first half of 2017 are the highest since 1992.

"Whoever claims that it was possible to do more is not stretching the rope to the limit, but tearing it apart completely and thus endangering the entire settlement enterprise.

"There never was and never will be a better government to take care of Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria and develop it."