Settler leader: For every 2 Jewish homes built in West Bank, one Palestinian home

Settler leaders are trying to grapple with a new construction paradigm in the West Bank's Area C, in which both Jewish and Palestinian homes are being authorized by the Bennett government.

 Protest in front of the prime minister's residence on Sunday (photo credit: BINYAMIN REGIONAL COUNCIL)
Protest in front of the prime minister's residence on Sunday
(photo credit: BINYAMIN REGIONAL COUNCIL)

There is a new formula for construction in the West Bank's Area C by which one Palestinian home will be authorized for every two settler homes. 

"For every two homes for Jews there must be one for the Arabs," Gush Etzion Regional Council head Shlomo Neeman said at a protest event Sunday in front of the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem.

"Now there is a matching game," he said adding that he would not accept this new reality.

He spoke out against the new paradigm which was first revealed last week. 

The two issues should not be connected, he added.

Kedumim Council head Hananel Dorani said that Palestinians should be able to build, but the two issues should not be linked.

At issue, in particular, he said, is the Palestinian push to control Area C. Why should the government help the Palestinians achieve that objective, he added. 

Bennett has risked the ire of the international community and the United States by allowing the Civil Administration on Wednesday to advance plans for 2,223 settler homes. He attempted to modify that anger with a simultaneous pending authorization of 800 Palestinian homes that will be debated on Tuesday.

The United States has spoken out against the move, but so have settler leaders and right-wing politicians in the opposition.

The Defense Ministry did not directly answer the question of whether approval for Palestinian homes in Area C would now be a normative part of the advancement of settlement construction. Area C is under IDF military and civilian control.

In the past approvals for Palestinian homes were rare, given that many in the former government believed that Area C should be reserved for Jews and should eventually be part of Israel's sovereign borders.

The Defense Ministry said that Defense Minister Benny Gantz would "allow construction for both Palestinians and Israelis" in the future according to Israel's security and diplomatic interests" as well as legal considerations.

At the protest event, right-wing parliamentarians accused Bennett of "drying out" West Bank settlements.

"Enough is enough," Binyamin Regional Council head Israel Gantz said. He was upset in particular the decision to cut the number of plans that would have been debated by the Higher Planning Council for Judea and Samaria on Wednesday by 39%, approximately by 1,400 units.

The Binyamin region was particularly hard hit by the decision. Only of the plans for 2,223 settler homes, only 14 units in the Binyamin Region.

"We will head out to battle from here," Israel Gantz said.

"If I need to I will move my bureau and place it next to the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem," he said.

Separately, some parliamentarians called for the Knesset to convene during its summer break so that it could hold a special session on the matter.