Bennett says curb on West Bank building a ‘missed opportunity’

The staunchly pro-settlement Education Minister Naftali Bennett criticizes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement to curb settlement building in a goodwill gesture to US President Donald Trump as a “strategic missed opportunity.”

“The story here isn’t President Trump, it’s the position of the Israeli government,” Bennett tweets.

“This was a strategic opportunity that was missed,” he says. “Instead of presenting an alternative, we were passive.”

Bennett says Netanyahu’s handling of the US request will “lead to nowhere but frustration.”

He goes on to call self-imposed restrictions on settlement construction “balanced and reasonable, provided that they’re actually implemented.”

Bennett adds that the arrangement with Washington does not include a quantitative limit.

“From my experience, we will have to make sure this is implemented.”