Netanyahu at scene of Givat Assaf attack
Netanyahu at scene of Givat Assaf attackBet El Spokesperson

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced today, Tuesday, the establishment of another “settlement authorization team” to deal with the approval of unrecognized communities in Judea and Samaria via “Section 5,” dubbed the “Market Overt” clause.

The process was advanced by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and received the approval of the attorney general.

In a letter sent by Deputy Government Registrar Ronen Peretz to the Defense Minister’s chief of staff Sharon Shalom, Peretz informed him of the establishment of another authorization team that would act to quickly approve communities under Section 5, following the opinion the attorney general published on the subject over the weekend.

"Following the Prime Minister's decision to implement Section 5 of the Order Concerning Government Property (Judea and Samaria) and pursuant to the Attorney General's supplementary opinion on this matter, I would like to inform you of the establishment of a team for quick examination and approval of the field cells where administrative evidence exists for the applicability of Section 5," Peretz wrote to Shalom.

The team will be headed by Peretz himself, and will include the head of the original authorization team, Pinhas Wallerstein, the assistant to the Defense Minister on Matters of Settlement Kobi Eliraz, and representatives from the Civil Administration. In light of the urgency, Peretz is also calling for the first discussion on the subject this week.

A political source told Arutz Sheva that "It seems that the Prime Minister's Office admits that the first authorization team, which only dealt with the mapping of outposts, did not take off. Now they are trying to kick-start an additional process that will render legislation unnecessary and enable the advancement of the authorization of communities according to Section 5 in a very quick process.”

However, Judea and Samaria leaders are waiting to see, after a year and a half of foot-dragging in the establishment and operation of the authorization team, whether the new team will work intensively to authorize communities, or whether this is just another promise under pressure whose implementation will take a long time.