Israeli minister drafts text for government vote on new settlement

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had promised the Amona families he would ask the government to formally approve an entirely new settlement for the evacuees.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF
Updated: MARCH 6, 2017 07:27
Uri Ariel (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Uri Ariel
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel drafted a government proposal Sunday night to create a new settlement for the 40 families that were evacuated from the Amona outpost last month.
“The prime minister must stop his policy of stagnation and quickly make good on his obligation to create a new settlement for the Amona evacuees,” Ariel said about the Bayit Yehudi Party.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had promised the Amona families he would ask the government to formally approve an entirely new settlement for the evacuees.
It’s a move that rarely occurs, because Israel has promised the international community it will not approve new Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.
Netanyahu has said he plans to keep his promise, but has also since indicated that he would prefer to wait until Israel and the Trump administration reach an understanding with regard to settlement activity.
Amona families have insisted that Netanyahu bring the matter to a government vote. On Thursday, six representatives of the community began a hunger strike, restricting themselves to a liquid-only diet. They also set up a protest tent outside the prime minister’s Jerusalem home.
On Sunday night, Ariel added his voice to their campaign, explaining that Netanyahu had promised the families the government would vote on the matter by March.
The draft text he penned explains that the new community would be in the area of Shiloh, within the jurisdiction of the Binyamin Regional Council.
Some NIS 5 million should be set aside to begin planning for the settlement, and temporary homes should be set up at the site for the families, he said.