Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has abandoned the open areas in Area C of the West Bank to the Palestinians, New Hope Party head Gideon Sa’ar said Sunday.
“The central challenge for the settlements is to block the Palestinians from seizing control of the open areas in Judea and Samaria and in Area C in particular,” he said during a campaign stop in Gush Etzion.
Sa’ar, who left the Likud to establish New Hope, has stood to the right of Netanyahu on issues relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in general, and the settlements, in particular.
He cited some of those issues to highlight the difference between himself and the prime minister, whom he seeks to oust.
Sa’ar has previously attacked Netanyahu for not doing enough to halt illegal Palestinian building in Area C. He continued in that vein on Sunday, saying such activity has gone on “almost without any interference” from Netanyahu’s government.
“I do not believe there will be a change unless the government is changed,” he said.
The objective of such building is to isolate the settlements and to create a contiguous Palestinian territory, he added.
Sa’ar took Netanyahu to task for failing to authorize illegal West Bank outposts. He has long argued for their legalization.
Sa’ar promised to continue building settler homes and to develop the settlements.
“The person who has presented himself as part of the Right and the national camp has not acted and is not acting on behalf of the settlements when it comes to the most basic issues,” he said.