Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya’alon said on Friday that it would be disastrous if the 300 homes promised by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in Beit El are not built.
Ya’alon was responding to recent reports that Deputy Attorney General Mike Blass has said that Netanyahu’s promise to build 300 new homes in Beit El is unfeasible.
In an interview with the Makor Rishon newspaper, Ya’alon said, “I helped formulate the outline on Ulpana. It would be a disaster if the 300 houses are not built. It would be a breach of trust towards me, towards the Prime Minister and towards the public.”
Ya’alon added, “I have no complaints about the Supreme Court – I have complaints against us. I have already said that the answer given to the Supreme Court by the legal system on the Ulpana neighborhood was a mistake.
“The Regulation Law would have without a doubt been rejected by the Supreme Court, so what remained was to find the middle ground that would obey the Court’s ruling but will reduce damage,” he said. “Thus was born the outline formulated by the Prime Minister and to which I was a full partner in shaping.”
Beit El Mayor Moshe Rosenbaum responded to Ya’alon’s remarks and told Arutz Sheva, “If not building the 300 apartments will be disastrous, why does Ya’alon not immediately stop the uprooting of the residents of the Ulpana neighborhood, which according to him is legitimate in exchange for the construction of 300 apartments? Saying ‘disastrous’ will not prevent the terrible expulsion by the government which is expected to occur again in the coming days and which is a decree the public cannot stand, in the words of Prime Minister, and which is something outrageous as Ya’alon himself said.”
On Friday it was reported that the IDF is considering changes in light of the planned demolition of homes in Beit El and Migron. Commanders are weighing the option of moving a base, a move they hope will solve two problems at once.
The base in question is one of two military bases in Beit El. According to Channel 10 television, the Border Police base is the one that would move, going from Beit El to Migron.
Migron is to be demolished, but military leaders say the area is necessary for security and cannot be abandoned.
