Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has ordered the Housing Ministry to delay the issuing of tenders for over 1,000 units in Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria (Yesha). According to a senior government source, Sharon is introducing a new requirement for issuing housing tenders: plans for new housing units will be examined to verify that they are in accordance with the understandings reached between Israel and the U.S. on limitations of construction in Yesha. “Within the next few days,” says the government source, “some of the tenders will begin to be issued.”
According to the Council for Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, the tenders under examination have been fully budgeted and have received the necessary authorizations from the Defense and Housing ministries. The Prime Minister is holding them up at the last minute, as they were to be offered to the market. The Yesha Council’s list of the planned housing units being effected includes the following Jerusalem suburbs: 604 units in Beitar Illit, 132 units in Geva Binyamin (AKA Adam), 141 units in Maaleh Adumim, 156 units in Kiryat Arba. Tel Aviv suburbs where the issuance of tenders are being delayed include 214 units in Ariel and 42 in Karnei Shomron. Officials of the Yesha council say that Sharon has decided upon a total blanket freeze on all construction in Jewish Yesha towns.
In a related item, Prime Minister Sharon has established a committee that will examine the legality of cutting off utility service to small Jewish communities which are slated for destruction. Sharon hopes that the move will expedite the removal of those outlying neighborhoods by causing internal collapse, instead of having to send in security forces to remove residents forcibly. Numerous IDF soldiers who participated in previous evacuations of small Jewish communities complained to their commanders that the experience took a heavy emotional toll upon them, and that they didn’t join the army to engage in such activities. Yesha Council leaders decried the cutting off of water to pioneering Jewish families.
According to the Council for Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, the tenders under examination have been fully budgeted and have received the necessary authorizations from the Defense and Housing ministries. The Prime Minister is holding them up at the last minute, as they were to be offered to the market. The Yesha Council’s list of the planned housing units being effected includes the following Jerusalem suburbs: 604 units in Beitar Illit, 132 units in Geva Binyamin (AKA Adam), 141 units in Maaleh Adumim, 156 units in Kiryat Arba. Tel Aviv suburbs where the issuance of tenders are being delayed include 214 units in Ariel and 42 in Karnei Shomron. Officials of the Yesha council say that Sharon has decided upon a total blanket freeze on all construction in Jewish Yesha towns.
In a related item, Prime Minister Sharon has established a committee that will examine the legality of cutting off utility service to small Jewish communities which are slated for destruction. Sharon hopes that the move will expedite the removal of those outlying neighborhoods by causing internal collapse, instead of having to send in security forces to remove residents forcibly. Numerous IDF soldiers who participated in previous evacuations of small Jewish communities complained to their commanders that the experience took a heavy emotional toll upon them, and that they didn’t join the army to engage in such activities. Yesha Council leaders decried the cutting off of water to pioneering Jewish families.