In the wake of a decision by the Defense Minister to evacuate an upstart settlement, the heads of the Judea and Samaria community council (known as YESHA in Hebrew) sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which they requested to meet with him as soon as possible, "to end the construction freeze of the previous government."
The leaders of the 600 thousand Israeli citizens who live in the biblical territory presented a list of demands to be carried out as soon as possible, including the transferring of the Civil Administration which oversees the area using a military structure to Civil Management which is civilian centered. Currently, the area is technically bonded by martial law as this gives security forces more freedom to act during terror events. They also demanded the approval of construction permits in Judea and Samaria, and approval as well as benefits for the young communities currently deemed illegal by the Israeli government.
Gallant, Smotrich at odds over evacuation of Judea and Samaria outpost - https://t.co/Bv04Rda2dr Bibi stabs Yesha in the back yet again. https://t.co/YopRvIXYET
— Eric Leibman (@LeibmanEric) January 22, 2023
"One of your most important achievements was the conclusion to start the process of ‘citizenization’ of the lives of half a million Israelis in Judea and Samaria. This move has been requested for many years and we call on you to step in to make it successful," the heads of the council wrote.
The "citizenization" issue of the Civil Administration is at the heart of the dispute between Religious Zionist Chairman Bezalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Yoav Galant. The evacuation of the Israeli "Or Haim" outpost two days ago was evidence that not all powers were transferred to Smotrich as agreed upon in the coalition agreements. In fact, the heads of the authorities have even asked the Prime Minister to meet with him in order to try to initiate these agreements. They further asked Netanyahu "not to allow half a million citizens to fall through the cracks.”
"Smotrich ordered the outpost's removal to stop - Gallant ignored him" is a real headline about the Israeli finance and defense ministers. pic.twitter.com/X0g0Kk8L56
— Noga Tarnopolsky נגה טרנופולסקי نوغا ترنوبولسكي (@NTarnopolsky) January 20, 2023
In addition, the community leaders mentioned three points in the letter, and demand that Netanyahu advance each of them. First, they explained that "we need the urgent convening of the Supreme Planning Council to end the construction freeze of the previous government." They added that "we cannot continue to watch the land being eaten by the enemy under the guise of agricultural work and building houses legal on Area C". While the previous government was quick to shut down any new construction in Israeli communities across Israeli controlled Area C, they turned a blind eye to what many consider a land grab by Palestinian activists.
On the second point, the heads of the council stated that "we wish to start regulating the young settlement and its immediate connection to basic infrastructure and more". In conclusion, the applicants wrote that "the issue of roads and crossings in Judea and Samaria requires special and urgent attention - both in the field of infrastructure and in the field of enforcement. Of course, this is only a partial list." Currently, the roads are mostly created and maintained by Israel and are open to Palestinians and Israelis. However, when it comes to road repairs the government has relied on the Palestinian Authority to pitch in, something that simply has not happened.
Smotrich is naive to think that he can maneuver easily around Galant (who knows a thing or two about taking land illegally). https://t.co/OcG3YxbKFe
— Daniel Sherman (@Daniel_Sherman_) January 20, 2023
Roughly at the same time, the letter was issued, Netanyahu himself tweeted that "Since the beginning of the month, the security system has evacuated 38 illegal Palestinian buildings in the territories of Judea and Samaria." Netanyahu added that "the situation in which Palestinians are rampant with illegal construction and land grabs is over."
