Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the Defense Ministry on Monday to stop preventing the construction of 25 new housing units in the West Bank settlement of Keidar, as they do not fall under the cabinet's decision to freeze construction for 10 months.
Netanyahu made the request during a phone conversation with Defense Minister Ehud Barak after learning that the completion of the housing units had been approved before the construction freeze process went into effect.
The order followed an appeal by settlers in Keidar to the prime minister's bureau chief, Natan Eshel. The settlers said Defense Ministry supervisors plan to issue freeze orders against the said housing units.
The PM told ministers who are opposed to the construction moratorium that he would examine the possibility of compensating settlers who will suffer financially from the cabinet's decision.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu has canceled a meeting with regional Judea and Samaria council heads scheduled for Tuesday, after his doctor recommended another day of rest.
Netanyahu took the physician's advice and canceled all meetings he had planned for Tuesday.