Settler leaders urged Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Tuesday to end his freeze on new settlement homes during a small protest outside Ben-Gurion International Airport prior to his departure for Washington.
“Prove to us that you are not a [US] puppet that is being played,” said Givat Ze’ev Council head Yossi Avrahami.
The settler leaders rallied around the slogan, “Bennett, you don’t have a mandate to dry out the settlements.”
At issue for the settler leaders is Bennett’s decision not to advance plans for some 4,000 homes, which they say are merely awaiting Civil Administration approval. That was followed by the decision to delay last week’s scheduled advancement of plans for 2,223 settler homes.
The hearing was scuttled due to a strike, but some attributed the delay to Bennett’s meeting on Thursday with US President Joe Biden.
Settlers have also opposed a Bennett overture to the Palestinians which includes approving plans for 800 new homes in Area C. The hearing on those plans was also canceled.
Binyamin Regional Council head Israel Gantz said, “We urge you to remember where you came from and to tell the Americans that you are changing your policy and intend to build as needed.
“All ready-made construction plans in Judea and Samaria must be approved,” Gantz said, adding that roads and infrastructure must be developed.
The Sovereignty Movement held a small rally as well at the Gush Etzion junction.
One woman held up a sign that stated, “PM Bennett. Do not cave in to a weak American administration that abandons its allies.”
The Sovereignty Movement also expressed concerns about the future of Jerusalem. It warned against US plans to reopen its Consulate-General, which had been located in Jerusalem and which acted as a de facto embassy to the Palestinians.
The Trump administration closed the mission and merged its services with that of the US Embassy, when it relocated from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in 2018.