Likud Knesset Member Danny Danon came out squarely against his party chairman's decision Wednesday night to freeze construction in Judea and Samaria, saying it completely contradicts the party's platform.
"For many years the settlements were considered by the Likud to be an asset," Danon told Israel National News Thursday morning, "but the prime minister's decision now indicates that they are an obstacle. This is completely against the Likud platform, as well as the promises we gave less than a year ago to the voters."
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu persuaded 11 out of 14 members of the Security Cabinet Wednesday evening to vote for the plan, which halts all new residential building starts in the regions, as well as all new residential construction permits. Only Yisrael Beiteinu's Dr. Uzi Landau voted against the proposal, even as the same party's chairman, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, voted to support it. Two Shas ministers, Interior Minister Eli Yishai and Housing Minister Ariel Attias, walked out, saying their party would "never agree to a freeze on settlement construction, even for one day."
Reportedly the decision will not affect public buildings such as synagogues and schools -- although according to the Yesha (Judea and Samaria) Council, such construction has been frozen for some time. "The Defense Minister [Ehud Barak] has been harrassing Jewish communities for a long time before this decision... to the point that he even refuses to allow the building of classrooms and nurseries for toddlers," the Council said Wednesday in a statement.
Danon said he is mobilizing party members to fight the proposal, which still must pass the full Cabinet on Sunday. "I intend to bring a vote in the Likud Central Committee on this decision," he said. "And on Saturday night we will gather in Raanana to call on the ministers who for years have preached about our internal rights in Judea and Samaria, not to forget their ideology."
'In a Week's Time They'll Forget'
Netanyahu's effort to satisfy the Obama Administration is a waste of time, contended Danon. He said the U.S. has already forgotten the major concessions made by the prime minister in his speech at Bar Ilan University in June. "In a week's time they will forget the moratorium that was imposed on the sttlers and will continue with other demands concerning our rights in Jerusalem," he said.
Tthe World Likud leader added that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's statement of approval in response to the freeze contained a reminder that the U.S. ultimately wants to push Israel back to the 1967 border to create a new Arab country for the PA. Clinton's statement, Danon warned, "shows that if the prime minister continues in his strategy of trying to satisfy the White House, we might find ourselves negotiating getting back to the '67 lines. I think deep inside, the prime minister knows we have no partner -- he knows there is no leadership in the Palestinian Authority," he said.
"I think Netanyahu is doing this to show there is no partner - but still, it is a major mistake. The price he is paying is too heavy and dangerous," Danon added. "Three months ago, he said he would consider freezing construction in Judea and Samaria only after two conditions were met: major gestures from the Arab world, and re-starting the negotiating process with the PA. Today we see that he is paying full price, in cash, without either one."