The state has not sold lots or issued tenders for construction in the West Bank settlement blocs since August 2004, even though Prime Minister Ariel Sharon repeatedly says that these blocs will remain part of Israel under any agreement with the Palestinians.
The freeze was instituted on direct orders from Sharon, in seeming contradiction to his oft-repeated declaration that in exchange for the disengagement from the Gaza Strip and the northern West Bank, he intended to strengthen Israel's hold on the settlement blocs.
Thousands of apartments are still being built in the territories on the basis of previously issued permits, mainly in Ma'aleh Adumim, Betar Illit and Modi'in Illit, which are all located in the blocs. But dozens of plans for the construction of thousands of additional units in the blocs are stuck in various stages of the approval process. The only exception to the eight-month-old freeze was a Housing Ministry tender for the construction of 10 apartments in Ariel.
Government officials responded that construction tenders are issued in accordance with demand. The Yesha Council of settlements rejected this explanation, saying that demand now is higher than it was in the past.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/562038.html
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