Israel Matzav: And who is going to enforce the 'freeze'?

And who is going to enforce the 'freeze'?

What if the government imposed a 'settlement freeze' and the local authorities all refused to enforce it? That's the prospect facing the Netanyahu-Barak government Sunday morning after Beit El's regional council head tore up the order when it was delivered on Friday and Ariel Mayor Ron Nachman announced on Saturday night that he won't enforce the freeze.

"Is this freeze so important that they had to distribute the orders banning construction on Friday afternoon, right before Shabbat?," Nachman asked rhetorically. Speaking to Arutz 7, Nachman said that "when the Defense Ministry called me on Friday afternoon, I thought that a war had broken out. I do not intend to remain silent in light of the humiliation and shame that the mayors of towns in Judea and Samaria have been put through. I plan to petition the High Court over the despicable way the authorities chose to distribute these orders, without giving us the right to respond, without listening to us, summarily taking away our rights.

"The Defense Minister, without feeling or intelligence, ran roughshod over our rights," continued Nachman. "He thinks he is still leading an IDF intelligence unit and that we are the enemy. Because they took away my authority as mayor to authorize projects in my jurisdiction, I hereby give up my authority to enforce these orders. If anyone violates this building freeze in my jurisdiction I will not act against them. If the Civil Administration wants to handle it, they are welcome to. I am out of the picture," Nachman added.

Two points bear mentioning here: Unlike most leaders in Judea and Samaria, Nachman is secular and so is his most of his city. Second, Nachman is a former Likud MK.

In fact, within the Likud, Nachman is only the tip of the iceberg.

Rank-and-file Likudniks and lawmakers in the ruling Likud party lambasted the Obama administration at a gathering on Saturday, in response to Israel's decision to temporarily freeze construction in West Bank settlements.

MK Dani Danon organized the meeting after Culture and Sports Minister Limor Livnat (Likud) launched a verbal attack over the matter on U.S. President Barack Obama's administration, which she branded "terrible."

...

"The Obama administration is an enemy of the Jews and the worst regime there ever was for the State of Israel," said Yossi Naim, the head of the Beit Aryeh regional council, at the Ra'ana meeting. "I announce to Obama: You won't be able to stop us."

The mayor of the West Bank settlement of Ariel, Ron Nahman, called Netanyahu's announcement of the settlement freeze a disgrace.

Directing his comments to Livnat, he said: "I am proud and happy that you said what you said, because you had the public courage to say what most of the public feels ever since Obama came to power."

Nahman repeatedly referred to the U.S. leader as "Hussein Obama," omitting his first name.

There's more too. Deputy Minister Moshe (Boogie) Yaalon, who flirted with Moshe Feiglin a few months ago, was forced to leave Kiryat Arba without speaking on Saturday night after a riot broke out. Read the whole thing.

What if there was mass civil disobedience in Judea and Samaria and everyone just built anyway? Who would enforce the 'freeze'? The IDF? Not with much of the officer corps living in Judea and Samaria. That's inviting mass refusal of orders, not to mention what it would do to the IDF's combat readiness during the lead-up to a possible attack on Iran. The police? There aren't enough of them, and the consequences for the rest of the country of deploying the police on construction patrols in Judea and Samaria would be devastating.

But fear not. The country is in good hands. What could go wrong?

Israel Matzav: And who is going to enforce the 'freeze'?