Bezalel Smotrich calls on Netanyahu to debate PA 'takeover' of Area C
Residents of Area C claim that the Palestinian construction in Area B to create agricultural roads for Palestinian farmers is getting dangerously close to their borders.
By TAMAR URIEL-BEERIPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and MK Bezalel Smotrich(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Transportation Minister Bezalel Smotrich called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday morning to hold a special Knesset meeting on the subject of a Palestinian takeover of Area C, an area controlled by the Israeli government and housing many Israeli settlements.Smotrich's letter to the prime minister was spurred by a report in Israeli media that the Likud party was receding from a request for a hearing regarding Area C.Residents of Area C claim that the Palestinian construction in Area B to create agricultural roads for Palestinian farmers is getting dangerously close to their borders.A few residents of Area C visited the construction site, only to find a Palestinian contractor claiming that the roads are being paved in order to create an infrastructure for a new Palestinian city, according to Ynet.Smotrich emphasized that the construction is by people "who do not care for the good of the State of Israel," calling the construction a "dangerous takeover project." He further called on Netanyahu to denounce the Palestinian Authority as well as establish a "broad national consensus" on the need to act against the project.The plan consists of 150 plots for the first stage of homes, one dunam each, with the infrastructure complete within two months. The construction was, according to Smotrich, done on the Palestinian Authority's own accord "unilaterally and illegally."Smotrich further claimed that if the Knesset debates this construction soon, they may be able to halt it before it is too late: "The sooner the better."Settlers in Area C are expected to hold a rally Tuesday night demanding that the government bring the construction to a stop immediately.Zachary Keyser contributed to this report.
