Science and Technology Minister Prof. Daniel Hershkowitz, chairman of the Jewish Home party, told Arutz Sheva on Monday that preparations are underway for the day after the end of the Judea and Samaria construction freeze, in 10 months time.
Several members of the coalition, Hershkowitz explained, are stepping up activities to prevent a continuation of the freeze beyond the period agreed upon by the Netanyahu administration. "We are working very hard to see to it that the decision to resume construction afterwards will be acted upon and not remain on paper alone," he said.
Regarding the way in which the settlement freeze was approved, in the limited forum of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's inner cabinet, Minister Hershkowitz said that he would be happy to learn that the law requires a decision by the full government. According to the minister, a debate around the government table would provide a forum for raising issues of concern to all the ministers, not just those in Netanyhau's inner ministerial circle. "It would be appropriate to hear out opposing opinions," Hershkowitz added, "since there are so few opposing voices in the Cabinet and a variety of views outside of it."
In addition to planning for continued construction in Judea and Samaria after the thaw, Hershkowitz intimated that he and his colleagues in his party were working to obtain permits to complete projects that have already been started. However, he felt that such activities were best not spoken of so as to allow them to come to fruition undisturbed. "The dilemma," he said, without explanation, "is between those things there is an interest in doing and those things we have an interest in their being known about."
Hershkowitz is frustrated by the limited power his three-MK party has to wage an effective struggle against the government's freeze of Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria. When asked if there has been any progress in unifying the political representatives of the national-religious camp, he replied, "The path is a long one, but if we never try we will not succeed."
Minister Hershkowitz made reference to the goal which brought him into politics from the world of academia in the first place: unification of the national-religious camp. Previous attempts failed to achieve that goal, he observed, but there are new, heretofore unpublicized moves to attempt reunification of the parties and MKs representing the national-religious public in the Knesset.