Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has apparently slowed the approval process for construction projects in Judea and Samaria because of American pressure.
According to an Israel Hayom report today, Bennett has refused to let the Civil Administration Zoning Committee schedule a routine meeting for the approval of construction plans.
Delays in scheduling a meeting have gone on for over a month, the sources said. Those who spoke out on the matter are affiliated with the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. They alleged that this amounts to a de facto construction moratorium because no new plans can go forward without the committee’s go-ahead. “This is tantamount to complete capitulation to US dictates,” they said.
We cannot predict what Bennett’s strategy is here or if there is one at all. We do know that caving to pressure from the US is not exercising Israel’s Sovereignty over her legal right to build up Israel’s legally owned land in Judea and Samaria.