Oded Revivi
Oded ReviviArutz Sheva

Efrat Mayor Oded Revivi finds it difficult to understand the criticism of the approval of 1,000 housing units for Palestinian Arabs in Area C.

"We must remember that in the end we are waging a struggle in which we want to reach a decision in Area C and prove that we are the sovereign. The government takes a step and says: We decide where the Palestinians will build and when. And there are those who aren’t thinking and are coming out against it, instead of realizing that it is an act of demonstration of sovereignty," Revivi told Arutz Sheva on Thursday.

"There is no doubt that there is a huge illegal construction by the Arabs in the entirety of Area C and we ask the state to wage a campaign against it, but it is impossible to wage a campaign without releasing some steam. When we do not allow Arabs to build at all, they build where they want, when they want, without any enforcement," he added.

Revivi claimed that the decision provides a decisive response to the Palestinian Arabs. "Today, some of their claims to the nations of the world about illegal construction are that the State of Israel never allows them to build in any area. So here they are allowed to build a bit and I would also like an in-depth discussion to take place on where they are building in order to make it clear that it does not interfere with future Jewish settlement and does not interfere with existing ones, but I would not rule it out immediately."

Turning to his fellow residents of Judea and Samaria who criticize the move, Revivi said, "I'm afraid there is some confusion and inconsistency in the messages. There was a time when they ran a campaign for Ma'ale Adumim first, Gush Etzion first, the Jordan Valley first and then when there was a Trump plan talking about sovereignty and they said it was not good because some areas were left out. We need to know how to accept what we have and see how to achieve more.If we say no to everything, we will end up with nothing."