Liberman blasts ‘Likud party fixers’ for Qalqilya row

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman doubles down on his statement that the security cabinet was fully apprised last year of his plan to allow the building of thousands of new homes in the Palestinian city of Qalqilya, noting that the high-level meetings were recorded and transcribed.

He says that a document was distributed to the ministers by a planning committee saying that while 14,000 housing units should be built in the Qalqilya area, under Israeli building restrictions a maximum of 6,187 units could realistically be constructed in the Palestinian city.

And Liberman is projecting that the construction will only start in 2030.

He says the uproar was tailor-made for “primaries,” and for “Likud party fixers,” a reference to the rightist flank of Likud’s activist base and Central Committee members.

Liberman scoffs at ministers’ vows to reexamine the issue. “From my perspective, let them have discussions morning and night,” he says. “It’s the defense minister’s decision.”

“Qalqilya was one of the quiet cities during the last terror wave,” he notes. “This was part of the carrot and stick approach that, incidentally, was publicized in the media.”

— Marissa Newman and Times of Israel staff