From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Israel moves to approve 2,000 new settlement homes
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleThe Defense Ministry body responsible for authorizing construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank will be advancing plans for roughly 2,000 new housing units when it convenes next week, though only some 1,200 of them will be receiving final approval.
Included among those set to earn final approval are projects for evacuees of the illegally built outposts of Ulpana (in Beit El), Migron, and Amona. These were demolished in June 2012, September 2012 and February 2017, respectively, after the High Court of Justice ruled they had been built on private Palestinian land.
A similar ruling was delivered in September 2016 for the Netiv Ha’avot outpost in the Elazar settlement, where 15 homes are slated for demolition in March 2018.
Among the building plans set to be advanced through the “deposit” planning stage is a neighborhood of 30 housing units in the Alon Shvut settlement that will serve as a residential solution for the Netiv Ha’avot residents.
Despite reports of a surge in authorizations for up to 4,000 units, the exact number of housing units that the Civil Administration’s High Planning Subcommittee will be advancing during meetings next Tuesday and Wednesday will be 1,941 — with just 1,196 of them for final approval.
The committee has pushed off its scheduled quarterly meeting for several months to avoid upsetting the Trump administration.
— Jacob Magid
The Times of Israel Community.