Netanyahu and Greenblatt
Netanyahu and GreenblattPhoto by Matty Stern/US EMbassy TEl Aviv

The Civil Administration’s planning committee meeting that was to take place next week and presumably see the approval of thousands of housing units in Judea and Samaria will be postponed until after the holidays.

Arutz Sheva was informed that the planning committee will only convene on October 16 and not this Tuesday, as had been reported at the beginning of the week.

The reason for the postponement appears to be technical: In order for the planning committee meeting to convene this Tuesday, the agenda must be published at least a week in advance. The Civil Administration confirmed that the agenda has not been published, and therefore the meeting will, in any event, not take place next week.

On October 16, Trump’s special envoy Jason Greenblatt will already have left Israel and, according to a government official, in this fashion, the building approvals will not be announced in such a way as to imply that the US gave its “silent agreement” to the projects, even as a senior US representative remains in the area holding talks between Israel and the PA.

The meeting is expected to see the approval of thousands of housing units, including projects for the evictees of Migron and 300 units promised to Beit El.

A government official noted that, in addition, “The postponement until after the holidays was coordinated with settlement leadership, and was executed with their agreement.”