(photo by Dror Etkes of Peace Now)
The extremist left-wing organization Peace Now, which often attempts to malign the Yesha (Judea and Samaria) public, released a report today saying "the settlers" profited from the war in Lebanon. Peace Now claims "the settlers succeeded in taking advantage of the war in the north in order to expand the outposts, make new roads, and build infrastructures and permanent construction in the outposts."
Yesha Council spokesperson Emily Amrousi said in response, "Peace Now continues to try to cause a dispute between the government and the Yesha residents and to cause wars between the Jews - even during this difficult time in which we face difficult external crises." She said that the Council would be happy if the Peace Now figures were correct.
The Yesha growth rate, as reported by Peace Now, is nearly three times higher than that of the rest of the country. One-third of the Yesha growth can be attributed to the expansion of the hareidi-religious communities of Beitar Illit, Modiin Illit (Kiryat Sefer) and Tel Tzion. However, the natural growth rate in Yesha - i.e., babies born to resident families - itself is twice as high as in the rest of the country.
The Peace Now report directs much criticism towards the government, for not carrying through on its promises to cut back on construction and remove outposts in Yesha. Before the war, the government promised to remove at least three other outposts.
"Wherever [Yesha] settlements are concerned," Peace Now head Yariv Oppenheimer told Ynet, "the current government is a great disappointment. Not only are there no outpost removals, but the expansion of construction and ignoring of law continues. The data in the report shows that the settlers don't rest for a second, and continue to thicken the settlements and the outposts."
Some of the report's numbers:
* 360 housing unit tenders have been issued so far this year in Maaleh Adumim, 342 in Beitar Illit, 88 in Ariel, 56 in Alfei Menashe, 53 in Elkanah, and 20 in Karnei Shomron.
* The Housing Ministry is involved in building and selling 3,661 housing units throughout Yesha.
* Permanent construction is underway in 12 outposts, and other forms of expansion are taking place in 19 others.
* Only one outpost has been removed this year - Yitav, near Jericho - and a total of 101 outposts are currently standing, though not all of them are populated. It should be noted that dozens of Jewish communities in Yesha started out as outposts.
* Three caravans (mobile homes without wheels) were added to an unpopulated outpost between Hevron and Kiryat Arba, two each to Gilad Farm and Ya'ir Farm in the Shomron, and one each to Givat HaTamar outside Efrat, Bat Ayin West, N'vei Daniel North, Nofei Nechemiah, and Hill 468 north of Jerusalem.
The detailed report also notes the locations of new roads and areas prepared for construction.
"When all public attention was directed towards the warfare in the north," Peace Now sums up, "the settlers continued to expand and strengthen their hold in the outposts and to thicken the existing construction."
The Binyamin Regional Council, located north of Jerusalem, is cited as having the most construction activity, with 39% of the changes recorded by Peace Now over the past year. The Shomron and Gush Etzion Regional Councils are next, with the Jordan Valley and Har Hevron Councils lagging behind in construction activity.
Pinchas Wallerstein, head of the Binyamin Council, told Ynet that the Peace Now report causes divisiveness in the nation: "I am glad that Peace Now has erased all its sins [on Yom Kippur] and now has time to start with new sins."
Moshe Eyal of the Yesha city of Maaleh Adumim faxed this response to Voice of Israel Radio: "Yes, we benefited from the war to expand our family with new births, as well as by digging new graves for [Yesha resident] soldiers who were killed in the war; I'm sorry for not asking Peace Now for permission."
Yesha Council leader Ben-Tzion Lieberman took umbrage at the declaration that the settlers "profited from the war." He said, "It would be like saying that [a northern town] benefited from the war because a new road was built..."
"Most of the Peace Now report talks about Beitar Illit, Ariel, and Alfei Menashe," Lieberman told Voice of Israel, "which I thought was the great accomplishment of Ariel Sharon when he said that we would converge into settlement blocs. But Peace Now just shoots off figures, without people being really familiar with what's going on, and then says that we 'profited from the war.' It's an unfair approach - but regarding the settlers, everything is permitted.
Responding to the accusations of widespread illegal construction of neighborhoods throughout Yesha, Lieberman said, "I am the head of the planning committee in the Shomron, and I am not familiar with this lawlessness they're talking about. There are a few cases that are problematic, true, but the vast majority are done with the knowledge of the authorities such as the army and the relevant government ministries..."
"This is the way the government builds all over the country," Lieberman said, "and there's no reason why it should be different here. If the government wants to change the rules, it can - but not retroactively. It can't allow a house to be built in Yesha according to the accepted rules, and then suddenly say, 'Oops, sorry, it's not legal,' and then destroy the house."
The extremist left-wing organization Peace Now, which often attempts to malign the Yesha (Judea and Samaria) public, released a report today saying "the settlers" profited from the war in Lebanon. Peace Now claims "the settlers succeeded in taking advantage of the war in the north in order to expand the outposts, make new roads, and build infrastructures and permanent construction in the outposts."
Yesha Council spokesperson Emily Amrousi said in response, "Peace Now continues to try to cause a dispute between the government and the Yesha residents and to cause wars between the Jews - even during this difficult time in which we face difficult external crises." She said that the Council would be happy if the Peace Now figures were correct.
The Yesha growth rate, as reported by Peace Now, is nearly three times higher than that of the rest of the country. One-third of the Yesha growth can be attributed to the expansion of the hareidi-religious communities of Beitar Illit, Modiin Illit (Kiryat Sefer) and Tel Tzion. However, the natural growth rate in Yesha - i.e., babies born to resident families - itself is twice as high as in the rest of the country.
The Peace Now report directs much criticism towards the government, for not carrying through on its promises to cut back on construction and remove outposts in Yesha. Before the war, the government promised to remove at least three other outposts.
"Wherever [Yesha] settlements are concerned," Peace Now head Yariv Oppenheimer told Ynet, "the current government is a great disappointment. Not only are there no outpost removals, but the expansion of construction and ignoring of law continues. The data in the report shows that the settlers don't rest for a second, and continue to thicken the settlements and the outposts."
Some of the report's numbers:
* 360 housing unit tenders have been issued so far this year in Maaleh Adumim, 342 in Beitar Illit, 88 in Ariel, 56 in Alfei Menashe, 53 in Elkanah, and 20 in Karnei Shomron.
* The Housing Ministry is involved in building and selling 3,661 housing units throughout Yesha.
* Permanent construction is underway in 12 outposts, and other forms of expansion are taking place in 19 others.
* Only one outpost has been removed this year - Yitav, near Jericho - and a total of 101 outposts are currently standing, though not all of them are populated. It should be noted that dozens of Jewish communities in Yesha started out as outposts.
* Three caravans (mobile homes without wheels) were added to an unpopulated outpost between Hevron and Kiryat Arba, two each to Gilad Farm and Ya'ir Farm in the Shomron, and one each to Givat HaTamar outside Efrat, Bat Ayin West, N'vei Daniel North, Nofei Nechemiah, and Hill 468 north of Jerusalem.
The detailed report also notes the locations of new roads and areas prepared for construction.
"When all public attention was directed towards the warfare in the north," Peace Now sums up, "the settlers continued to expand and strengthen their hold in the outposts and to thicken the existing construction."
The Binyamin Regional Council, located north of Jerusalem, is cited as having the most construction activity, with 39% of the changes recorded by Peace Now over the past year. The Shomron and Gush Etzion Regional Councils are next, with the Jordan Valley and Har Hevron Councils lagging behind in construction activity.
Pinchas Wallerstein, head of the Binyamin Council, told Ynet that the Peace Now report causes divisiveness in the nation: "I am glad that Peace Now has erased all its sins [on Yom Kippur] and now has time to start with new sins."
Moshe Eyal of the Yesha city of Maaleh Adumim faxed this response to Voice of Israel Radio: "Yes, we benefited from the war to expand our family with new births, as well as by digging new graves for [Yesha resident] soldiers who were killed in the war; I'm sorry for not asking Peace Now for permission."
Yesha Council leader Ben-Tzion Lieberman took umbrage at the declaration that the settlers "profited from the war." He said, "It would be like saying that [a northern town] benefited from the war because a new road was built..."
"Most of the Peace Now report talks about Beitar Illit, Ariel, and Alfei Menashe," Lieberman told Voice of Israel, "which I thought was the great accomplishment of Ariel Sharon when he said that we would converge into settlement blocs. But Peace Now just shoots off figures, without people being really familiar with what's going on, and then says that we 'profited from the war.' It's an unfair approach - but regarding the settlers, everything is permitted.
Responding to the accusations of widespread illegal construction of neighborhoods throughout Yesha, Lieberman said, "I am the head of the planning committee in the Shomron, and I am not familiar with this lawlessness they're talking about. There are a few cases that are problematic, true, but the vast majority are done with the knowledge of the authorities such as the army and the relevant government ministries..."
"This is the way the government builds all over the country," Lieberman said, "and there's no reason why it should be different here. If the government wants to change the rules, it can - but not retroactively. It can't allow a house to be built in Yesha according to the accepted rules, and then suddenly say, 'Oops, sorry, it's not legal,' and then destroy the house."