BICOM

Supporters of West Bank construction have complained that the government is instituting an unofficial but effective “silent freeze” on building in the West Bank.

In an interview with the Times of Israel, Deputy Defence Minister Danny Danon, considered a powerful voice on the right of the Likud Party, said that while construction continued on existing projects, no new developments are planned and nor have tenders been issued recently. Danon said, “I don’t know of a formal policy to limit building,” but that “de facto … you feel there is a silent freeze in terms of planning and in terms of government construction.”

Danon said that this also applies to the major West Bank settlement blocs, which many assume would be included within Israel’s borders in the event of a peace deal with the Palestinians. Referring to two of the settlement blocs, Danon commented, “You will have no [housing] units for youngsters in Ariel, in Ma’aleh Adumim.” However, Hagit Ofran of anti-settlement watchdog Peace Now said talk of a freeze is “premature.”

Concurring with Danon’s assessment, Dani Dayan, a senior representative of the overall body representing West Bank settlements, commented that in the past few months, “Plans for new buildings were not advanced one inch, let alone approved. There are no new tenders at all.”

Dayan suggested that “this is because of a direct order from the Prime Minister’s Office” which is “intimidated” by the United States. Danon too said that construction in the West Bank “is a major issue among the Americans … A lot of pressure is being put on us.” The US State Department has called on both sides to “refrain from steps that would be unhelpful” since the suspension of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) last month, prompted by the agreement between the Fatah faction of PA President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas to form a unity government.