Settlement Construction Freeze Until Obama Goes Home

I totally reject the idea that Israel walk on eggs while Obama is here. It should be the other way around. We have major policy differences with Obama. These differences should not be hidden while he is here. When we hide them we are showing weakness and lack of resolve. Screw him. Instead, Bibi should be making speeches in his presence confirming that Jerusalem will remain united under Israel sovereignty. We should also be pursuing our sovereign right to build in Jerusalem in his face while he is here. Only that way will he get the message that we mean it. Especially when he is here to do us harm. Ted Belman

By: Yori Yanover, jewish press

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the suspension of all new construction procedures in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria until after U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to Israel, on the eve of Passover, Makor Rishon reports.

According to a directive that was passed from the PM’s office to the appropriate echelons at the defense and housing ministries, in the next few weeks no new construction bids are to be issued in those three areas. Also, plans whose planning phase has been completed will not move on to the deposit phase while all additional bureaucratic steps concerning their public offering are to be delayed as well.

The suspension directive was issued through informal channels. Prime Minister Netanyahu, who conducted the phone calls with the relevant officials personally, emphasized that this is not a freeze—like the 10-month settlement construction freeze Netanyahu declared in November, 2010-—but “merely a temporary suspension in order not to embarrass the visiting president.”

Sources close to the prime minister reiterated that this time the freeze will be restrained and moderate, as befits the circumstances.

A major contributor to the move on the PM’s part was Housing Minister Eli Yishai (Shas) whose office publicized its construction plans for the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood in East Jerusalem on the very week Vice President Joe Biden was visiting Israel, unintentionally causing a serious crisis in Israel’s relationship with the White House.

Following that incident, Netanyahu was forced to block construction in Jerusalem for almost a year, to patch things up with the Americans.

March 2, 2013 | 9 Comments »
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9 Comments / 9 Comments

  1. @ Caren Levinson:

    I would be happy to see Barack Obama arrested, tried and convicted for his many crimes against the American people, against Israel and the world!

  2. Why stop at embarrasing the Presidend when he’s in Israel? Why shouldn’t Bibi slap the cuffs on and throw him in prison with the Palestinians? Give him the full treatment? And, then, have Israelis start dancing the hora en masse in the streets? The American people might feel a little queasy about it, but, hey, let the Jews be Jews!

  3. Bernard Ross Said:

    We have major policy differences with Obama.
    I am not convinced of this statement Who is we?

    Netanyahu is sweeping any differences under the rug. He fears Obama. I think Clinton’s support of Barak in 1998-99 scared the living daylights out of him and if he wants four years in office, he’s concluded he has no choice but to pay whatever price Obama asks of him.

  5. yamit82 Said:

    For the pilots who will eventually take the F-35 into combat, the JSF’s reduced performance means they might not be able to outfly and outfight the latest Russian- and Chinese-made fighters. Even before the downgrades, some analysts questioned the F-35?s ability to defeat newer Sukhoi and Shenyang jets.

    If this is true it is a pathetic failure.
    yamit82 Said:

    BB is an American agent stooge

    as were sharon, Olmert, Livni, etc etc.

  6. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the suspension of all new construction procedures in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria until after U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to Israel, on the eve of Passover

    NAUSEATING does not even begin to describe it………
    …what I find more disconcerting is the lack of outrage and spontaneous rallies of the population…
    …nobody objects to this abomination?
    ….general anesthesia / stupor?

  7. I warned BB against buying the F-35
    Israel should reject the F-35…. But she won’t …by Yamit82

    Now we are stuck was a super expensive piece of Junk and even MORE, (if that’s possible.. beholding to and under the American diktat)

    Pentagon Downgrades Specs for Its Premier Stealth Jet — Again

    Troubled trillion-dollar JSF program, For the pilots who will eventually take the F-35 into combat, the JSF’s reduced performance means they might not be able to outfly and outfight the latest Russian- and Chinese-made fighters. Even before the downgrades, some analysts questioned the F-35?s ability to defeat newer Sukhoi and Shenyang jets. Despite the JSF’s lower specs, Lockheed bizarrely claims its new plane is now more maneuverable than every other fighters in the world except the company’s own F-22.

    In short, the F-35 program is losing altitude as Lockheed’s claims grow loftier. The result is a widening gulf between expectations and reality for a jet that’s supposed to represent the backbone of U.S. air power for the next 50 years.

    BB is an American agent stooge and any claims that he is intelligent is suspect based on his substantial decision making record. He has neither called one right or even when he did acted contrary to what was indicated rendering even proper decisions disastrous for the country.

    His policy of bending to the American and EU will is nothing less than traitorous and has more than wiped out anything good he has accomplished, and there is not much to brag about on that score.

  8. Netanyahu is unprincipled and he can’t say “no” to Obama when it comes to upholding Israeli sovereignty.

    There is no reason why his suitors should be in any real hurry to make his life easier.

    If it keeps Obama from coming to Israel, it would be all worth it!