In the wake of demands by the Tekuma component of Jewish Home, Arutz Sheva has learned that the head of the Amana construction firm, Ze'ev Haver (“Zambish”), one of the most influential members of the settlement movement in Judea and Samaria, has come to a “quiet understanding” with Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon.
The two have been discussing the needs of Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria via “back channels” - and Ya'alon has promised that the new government will ensure that those needs are satisfied.
According to sources, the government will commit to spending between NIS 300 and 500 million ($75 and $125 million dollars) each year over the next four years for construction, infrastructure, roads, transportation, and other needs that will ensure that new residents of towns in Judea and Samaria can be absorbed without difficulty.
Among the projects are 12 new roads in Judea and Samaria, among them a new road that will bypass the Shechem-area village of Hawara – a flashpoint for attacks on Israeli drivers – as well as new roads to Eli, Emanuel, and other Western Samaria towns, and a widening of the north-south Road 60.
Three new parks are also on the drawing board, as are new student housing in Ariel for university students, and a park and trail in Gush Etzion in memory of Gilad Sha'ar, Naftali Frankel, and Eyal Yifrah, the three Israeli teens who were kidnapped and murdered by Hamas terrorists last year.
Over the next year, some 1,700 homes are expected to be sold in Judea and Samaria. With the government's help, that number is expected to exceed 3,000 the following year. Among the currently available homes, 297 are in Beit El, 300 are in Ariel, 200 are in Eli, and 2,000 others throughout the rest of the regions.
Because he fears pressure from the administration of US President Barack H. Obama, said the sources, Netanyahu cannot openly declare his support for the arrangement.
Earlier, sources in the Tekuma component of Jewish Home said they would insist that Tekuma's demands for a a clear directive to significantly increase building in Judea and Samaria be written into a coalition agreement between Jewish Home and Likud.
Speaking to Arutz Sheva Wednesday, a top Tekuma official said that Jewish Home must demand an outright commitment by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that there will be no building freezes, as the previous government imposed, or other roadblocks to significant construction in Judea and Samaria.
If Netanyahu does not commit to this, the official said, “we have no reason to be in his fourth government. Jewish Home would be better off in the opposition and present a right-wing alternative.”