Israel Matzav: Knesset coalition chair to live in caravan because of freeze

Knesset coalition chair to live in caravan because of freeze

Ze'ev Elkin, the Knesset coalition's chairman and a resident of Gush Etzion, will be stuck living in a caravan for another ten months because of the government's decision to freeze 'settlement construction' in Judea and Samaria. A caravan is what the Americans would call a trailer.

But here's the really disgraceful part:

Elkin said that he would attempt to lessen the impact of the freeze. “As chairman of the Judea and Samaria Subcommittee of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, I will try to minimize the damage,” he explained. Elkin noted that certain educational buildings and synagogues have been approved for construction, yet Minister of Defense Ehud Barak refuses to sign the permits. Elkin said he would “exert maximum pressure” on Barak to sign the permits “so that there is a second side to the equation and not just one,” in his words.

In other words, the 'freeze' isn't going to have much impact on Israel because nothing has gotten through the Defense Ministry for the last eight months either. I suspect this was a consideration in Netanyahu agreeing to the 'freeze.' But it's real total time will be a year and a half.

And then?

Israel Matzav: Knesset coalition chair to live in caravan because of freeze