The heads of the councils in Judea and Samaria, including Head of the Samaria Regional Council Yossi Dagan, Head of the Binyamin Council Israel Gantz, and Head of the Kiryat Arba Council Eliyahu Liebman, told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that they would have to forgo the meeting with him that had been scheduled for 10:00 AM, Wednesday, in response for his plying the settlement with false promises.
“We see no value in keeping a meeting whose entire purpose is to create an idyllic picture of partnership, with nothing behind it,” the heads of councils wrote the PM.
“In recent months we have experienced serious terror attacks in the settlements,” they explained. “In meetings with the prime minister and his staff, we demanded the cancellation of the 400 million shekel ($105 million) cut in the security components for Judea and Samaria; removal of the cuts in IDF presence in the area; restoring the checkpoints; and an appropriate Zionist response in settling areas where terror attacks took place.”
The heads of the councils claimed that most of their demands have been rejected, and added: “We are expected to accept submissively and give thanks for the promotion of a few isolated programs, some of which are nothing more than recycled plans, which cannot in any way be seen as real breakthroughs.”
MK Bezalel Smotrich (Habayit Hayehudi) attacked the council heads who did decide to participate in the meeting with the prime minister.
“The fact that some of the council heads are present in the photo-op that will launch Netanyahu’s campaign is embarrassing and harmful to the settlement enterprise,” MK Smotrich said.
He added that “all the settlements’ demands have been rejected by Netanyahu. It’s been almost four years and there is no land regulation, almost no construction, no roads and no budget. It’s been nothing more than a lot of talk and throwing some bones to the poor in the doorway. That’s not how leaders conduct themselves.”
The heads of the Efrat and Beit El councils criticized the decision not to attend the meeting.
“The attempt to bend his arm because of the upcoming elections does not befit us,” they said in a statement. “When the prime minister invites you – you come. Those who oppose boycotts shouldn’t boycott,” they said.
The Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement: “The meeting is taking place as planned and the heads of the local municipalities who are interested in discussing ways to strengthen the settlement enterprise for the sake of the residents of their settlements are showing up.”