Barak. Needs supervisors
Photo: Dudu Azulay
The Defense Ministry is making preparations to impose the 10-month construction freeze on West Bank settlements, as determined by the Cabinet last week.
As part of the preparations, the ministry has announced it will significantly increase the number of construction supervisors it employs in order to enforce the freeze.
Op-Ed
Yoel Ben-Nun
Latest construction freeze yet another ‘peace move’ on way to nowhere
As revealed by Ynet, the Defense Ministry began to search for ways to enforce the new law ahead of the Cabinet's decision to implement it.
During the Cabinet meeting that decided on the freeze, Attorney General Menachem Mazuz warned that the government would have trouble enforcing it due to lack of resources. He reminded ministers that there are currently demolition orders not being enforced for the same reason.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak said his ministry would require additional funds for this purpose, a demand that was not received warmly by Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz. However the latter was ordered to provide the funds within 30 days. The funds will also serve to employ additional supervisors.
There are currently 14 supervisors employed by the Civil Administration, and the authority has already requested 40 more. Aside from enlisting supervisors from other ministries, the administration is considering employing civilians in this capacity.
Ron Ben-Yishai, Hanan Greenberg, and Efrat Weiss contributed to this report