
A spokesperson for the Ulpana neighborhood in Beit El slammed heads of local councils in Judea and Samaria for endorsing Binyamin Netanyahu for Prime Minister. The spokesperson, Harel Cohen, said that the Council had no business endorsing Netanyahu, because his policies have been anything but pro-Yesha. “The public has not forgotten how the Lihttp://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/163606kud and the Prime Minister imposed the building freeze on Judea and Samaria, how they destroyed Migron and the Ulpana neighborhood, and acted to prevent the imposition of Israeli law on Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria.
“Voters in Judea and Samaria, and throughout Israel, are not masochists. There is no reason whatsover to vote for a man who until this moment has not adopted the Levi report, which advocates imposing Israeli law on towns in Judea and Samaria, and instead continues to declare and promote the 'two state solution,'” Cohen said.
At a meeting with Netanyahu Wednesday night, the council heads said that they “understood the pressures” Netanyahu was facing, and believed he was doing everything he could to promote Jewish growth in Yesha. Efrat mayor Oded Revivi said that “despite the justified criticism against Netanyahu over the construction freeze, Netanyahu is the Prime Minister who after 12 years of a freeze granted Efrat - the capital of Gush Etzion - massive building permits and allowed us to expand and grow."
Beit El Council head Moshe Rosenbaum said that although the past four years have not been easy, "we put the hard things behind us, like the evacuation of Migron and Ulpana and we're looking at the glass half-full. We are aware that the Prime Minister is under pressure from abroad and from home but we believe that he will do everything for the Jews of Judea and Samaria.”
But Cohen said that the public wasn't buying Netanyahu's newfound “pro-settlement” stance. “Everyone with a little sense knows that Netanyahu will work for more concessions and more destructions of Yesha communities. Perhaps the mayors of some towns are prepared to ' put the hard things behind them,'” Cohen said, quoting Rosenbaum, “but the public has had enough of the Likud's cruel expulsions, and is not prepared to leave them behind.”