Yesha heads, Barak meet on settlement construction

Heads of the Yesha Council met with Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Wednesday to discuss mitigations for the Palestinians and the freezing of construction in settlements.

During the meeting Barak said that illegal outposts must be evacuated. "If this is not done trough negotiations, it will be done with swift and firm enforcement," he stated.

The defense minister stressed that "law enforcement cannot be compromised. A sovereign, viable state must enforce the law and exercise its authority over its citizens."

He added that ten illegal outposts were hurting Israel on the international level an undermining the settlement movement in the West Bank.

The meeting, that lasted for over and hour, ended with no concrete results, and Yesha Council Chairman Danny Dayan said, "We were surprised to learn that the defense minister was being fed disinformation presented to him as facts by leftist organizations."

"We presented Barak with an intolerable picture: The complete freezing of any settlement that was forced upon us by the Olmert-Ramon government. This led to the quiet expulsion of youths and residents."

Dayan said he hopes that "after we presented our position, that the current situation cannot continue, the real picture will become more clear and policy-changing proceedings will begin."

The meeting was called by the council heads, and included Yesha Council Chairman Danny Dayan, Director-General Pinchas Walerstein, regional council heads Gershon Mesika, Tzviki Bar-Hai, Shaul Goldenstein, Avi Roeh and head of the Amana Settlement Movement Ze'ev Hever.

At the end of the meeting both parties agreed to convene more often, and the Yesha heads said they plan to request a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upon his return from Washington.

Walerstein told Ynet the defense minister said the data he had on settlement construction was higher than what the settlers presented. Shaul Goldstein, head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council said, "Barak is fed with false information regarding the scope of actual construction".

The Peace Now organization commented on the settlers' claims with similar accusations: "The Yesha Council is deceiving the defense minister and the public and trying to convey false information.

"According to data from the Central Bureau of Statistics, in 2008 more apartments were built in the settlements than in Jerusalem and Haifa. Most of the construction is aimed at encouraging Israelis to migrate to the territories."