If Shas truly wants to help its voters, it should stand up against the Judea and Samaria construction freeze, MK Yaakov “Ketzaleh” Katz said in an interview with Arutz Sheva's Hebrew-language news service. The hareidi-religious community is suffering more than others from the freeze, he said.
Shas has supported governments that agreed to give over territories to Arab countries or to the Palestinian Authority in the past, Katz said. “Now too, they aren't standing up boldly against the [freeze] decree... Shas's leaders could go to the prime minister and tell him 'No more, if there's no construction in Beitar, Kiryat Sefer and Jerusalem, there's no government,'” he said. Katz's party, the National Union, is in the opposition, but Shas is part of the goverment and thus has ministers in the cabinet.
“Believe me, if they threatened that,way, [the government] would give in to them, without them there's no government,” Ketzaleh stated.
The hareidi-religious community is suffering more than other segments of the Israeli public due to the freeze, according to Katz. “They have large families, and the entire country is frozen,” he explained.
The price of housing rose by 17% nationwide in the past year, partly due to the lack of building starts in Judea, Samaria and parts of Jerusalem which made demand outstrip supply. Prices shot up in Judea and Samaria in particular.
Katz expressed hope that in the future, his National Union (Ichud Leumi) party, will be in a position to have a greater impact on government policy. “We'll set up a large Knesset faction together with the Jewish Home party and all other nationalist groups, and we'll be able to respond appropriately,” he said.