Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Development of the Negev and Galilee, MK Silvan Shalom, spoke at the Ariel University Center this week and said he was against the building freeze from the start.
The Deputy Prime Minister referred to the Netzarim community that was expelled from the Katif Bloc five years ago and is now still prevented from building their homes by the freeze. "I was against the decision to freeze building before negotiations began and consider it a mistake," Shalom said. "I am conducting ongoing meetings with ministers, MKs and heads of regional authorities in Judea and Samaria in order to be prepared for September when the freeze ends. The Netzarim community, however, should get a solution right now and my ministry is doing that for Katif Bloc expellees through the 'Negev Pioneering' idea."
Dozens of former Netzarim families are housed in temporary caravans in Ariel, waiting for permission to begin building their permanent homes nearby.
Shalom spoke at a College Trustees event, the dedication of the new Schlesinger Center for Research on Protection from Medical Radiation.
Addresses PA Boycott
The Minister addressed the PA boycott of goods and services as well, saying, "If the boycott on Israeli products continues, Israel's government will have to make decisions that bring this phenomenon to a halt. In the Office for Regional Cooperation, we have been discussing the issue, and we will have a meeting with the Ministry of Industry soon, in order to decide which steps to take. There are several suggestions for action, including surcharges on goods imported by the PA, and preventing goods to and from the PA from entering our sea and air ports. It should be noted that 25,000 residents of the PA earn their living working for Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria."
The boycott has been led by PA prime minister Salaam Fayyad, who took part in a public burning of Israeli products from Judea and Samaria. The PA calls the boycott "passive resistance," though it does not replace the "violent resistance" called for and incited to by other PA organs. Historic passive resistance initiatives in the U.S.A. and India, for example, were part of a non violent philosophy of action.