An investigation has found that the default situation is that construction can resume with a bang on Sept. 27 in no fewer than 57 Jewish towns in Yesha.
As the construction freeze issue comes to a boil with the resumption of direct talks between Israel and the PA this week, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu finds himself under heavy pressure from various quarters. On the one hand, he and most of his Cabinet have said repeatedly that the ten-month freeze on Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria will end on Sep. 26 as originally stipulated.
A public-relations campaign is underway reminding the ministers and Netanyahu of their promises, demanding that life in Judea and Samaria not continue to be frozen at the whim of the Palestinian Authority.
The freeze was imposed solely in order to get the Palestinian Authority to agree to direct talks with Israel. However, as Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman put it last week, “For [nine] months we have been waiting for the Palestinians to please come to the negotiations. They come at the last month – that’s their problem.”
On the other hand, PA chairman Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) has threatened outright that if the freeze is not extended, he will immediately quit the talks. The Obama Administration, too, has made it subtly clear that it would like Netanyahu to extend the freeze.
Netanyahu’s options in this situation are limited. He can announce a continuation of the freeze, leading to a domestic political crisis and charges that he has once again caved in on Israeli interests in the face of pressure. Alternatively, he can announce that construction will resume only in areas of large settlement blocs such as Ariel, Gush Etzion and Maaleh Adumim. This will also not gain him friends in the nationalist camp, and could lead to the collapse of his government.
He might also do nothing and allow the freeze to lapse, leading to a possible international crisis.
And a final option is to allow the freeze to lapse, but to prevent construction by refusing to issue permits. This, however, will not have the expected results – because in fact, construction in no fewer than 57 communities can resume automatically the minute the freeze ends, because all necessary permits have already been procured.
In fact, the only way to stop construction in these towns is by issuing an official extension to the freeze (option 1 above) – with harmful political and other ramifications for Netanyahu.
An Army Radio report has found that locations where construction can resume by default on Sept. 27 include: Beit El, Itamar, Beit Haggai, Dolev, Vered Yericho, Mitzpeh Yericho, Naaleh, N’veh Tzuf, Talmon, Tapuach, Migdalim, Michmash, Peduel, Kedumim, Kalya, Shavei Shomron, Shadmot Mecholah, Bat Ayin, Tekoa, Kfar Adumim, Kfar Etzion, N’veh Daniel, Rosh Tzurim, and many others.