Yesha Council members met last night with Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer in his Tel Aviv office. They requested immediate funding for defense needs in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, and the approval of new construction in the communities. Ben-Eliezer said he would consider the request, but noted that he does not plan to allow wide-spread building in Yesha. Housing starts in Yesha during the first six months of this year are down drastically; there were only 832 starts, compared with 4,499 for all of the year 2000.