Likud faction chairman Tzahi Hanegbi spoke to Channel 20 on Thursday about Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's recent refusal to expand Judea and Samaria.
During a meeting on the subject on Monday, Netanyahu admitted plans to keep the de facto building freeze on the area unofficially instituted over the past two years.
"What the Prime Minister said at the meeting, which I ran as Likud faction chairman, was: I don't need you to preach to me about settlements. There has been six and a half years of settlements while I have been prime minister. Open Google and make a comparison," Hanegbi recounted.
Explaining Netanyahu's position, Hanegbi asserted "what he means is, that the settlements are not his only political consideration. There are several other significant political issues."
For instance, the "war crimes" charges being leveled against Israel, the issue of the BDS movement, and all diplomatic efforts against the Iranian deal, Hanegbi listed.
According to Hanegbi, "what the Prime Minister told Judea-Samaria leaders was: It is my role is to weigh all governmental considerations, not yours. You have been chosen to strengthen these communities - I understand you, I identify with you. Please also understand me even if you can't identify."
Hanegbi then brushed aside questions from interviewer Kalman Liebskind, who asked why during recent elections Likud hid its intentions not to build in Judea and Samaria.
"Anyone who participated in these elections knew they were not about the settlements. We never said we would build. I don't recall the Prime Minister saying something like that," Hanegbi claimed.