עודד רביבי
עודד רביביצילום: חזקי ברוך

The head of the Efrat local council, Oded Ravivi, notes with concern that the population data in Judea and Samaria for 2020 indicate Jewish construction is slowing down.

"One cannot help but wonder aloud what would have happened if we had adopted the Trump plan and applied Israeli law to at least 96% of the settlers. An opportunity was missed and the conduct that led to it rests on the shoulders of the current Yesha Council leadership."

He adds that it is time to change attitudes. "We blame the Supreme Court, the political echelon, the left, the Palestinians. We need to look inward to analyze what we did wrong and what can be fixed. We can no longer simply hide out in the hills; we have already experienced enough Supreme Court verdicts to take more effective action than that. We need to start projecting strength to the rest of the community.”

In Revivi's view, there is all the more urgency in light of the change of government in the United States and the upcoming Israeli elections, "The new administration poses challenges for us that we have not had in the last four years. At the same time, we are in the midst of an election campaign and the composition of the government that will be formed will determine how hard we will need to work. We must not grow complacent.”