Following a request from Minister of Settlement Affairs and National Missions Orit Strook, the Prime Minister has instructed today (Wednesday) to convene a discussion on the issue of the 'consensual reserve', to be led by him.
This morning, during the government meeting, Minister of Settlement Affairs and National Missions Orit Strook presented a booklet to the Prime Minister and the ministers, which was prepared in collaboration with the head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council, Shlomo Ne'eman, regarding Palestinian construction in the 'consensual reserve' in the eastern Gush Etzion. Ministers Amichai Shikli and Amichai Eliyahu joined in addressing this issue.
The minister raised the issue for discussion at the government table and presented the danger and problematic nature of the activity of the Palestinian Authority, which is constructing in the area of a new city (in Area B) in complete contradiction to what was agreed upon in the Oslo Accords, where this territory was supposed to remain as a 'consensual reserve'.
After presenting the matter and due to its severity, the Prime Minister assured that he would address the issue. He also instructed the Ministry of Defense to present data and an action plan within two weeks, followed by a discussion led by him with the participation of the ministers of defense, finance, settlement affairs, heritage, and diaspora to monitor progress on the matter.
Shlomo Ne'eman: "The Palestinian Authority is blatantly violating the agreements"
Shlomo Ne'eman responded to the decision by saying, "I thank Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for convening a discussion on the issue of the 'consensual reserve', which I have been leading since the beginning of the disturbances, construction, and destruction by the Palestinian Authority in the area. The Palestinian Authority is flagrantly violating the agreements and disconnecting Gush Etzion from the Dead Sea and attempting to harm the settlement."
"I appreciate my colleague, Minister Orit Strook, who raised the issue before the government. I support Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Knesset member Yuli Edelstein, the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, all the members of the government, and our Knesset, who take on the issue as their personal mission."
The council in the fight for the reserve: "Everything is expected and the authority is building"
As a reminder, a week and a half ago, it was reported under the headline "Everything is Expected and the Authority is Building" that Gush Etzion Regional Council is currently engaged in an intense struggle and is demanding an immediate halt from state institutions to the construction of the Arab city being built by the Palestinian Authority in the 'consensual reserve' in eastern Gush Etzion.
Officials in the council have made it clear that "the city being built by the Arabs in the heart of the desert in recent times is destroying the Judean Desert and could potentially serve as a source of terrorist activities emanating from the new Arab city." They criticized the government and stated: "The systematic disregard for the progress of the construction of the Arab city, which has been warned about in Gush Etzion for a long time, leads to an irreversible and dangerous situation."
"We call on the government to immediately halt the illegal and unregulated construction in the 'consensual reserve', and to prevent severe damage that could be inflicted on the Gush Etzion settlements in particular, and on the State of Israel as a whole," added the officials.