Settler leader calls new Israeli government ‘a wet dream’

By Noam Sheizaf March 16, 2013 | Edit

The new Netanyahu coalition will give settlers and their supporters more executive power than any previous government in Israel has until now.

Settler leader calls new Israeli government 'a wet dream'

New construction taking place in the Beit El settlement, February 5, 2013 (Photo: Ahmad Al Bazz/Activestills.org)

With the Housing and Industry ministries in their hand, and political ally Moshe Ya’alon as the new defense minister, the settlers are very pleased by the new Netanyahu government. Head of the Samaria region (the northern West Bank) Gershon Mesika told the Ynet news site:

“On the face of it, it does look like a wet dream – Ya’alon on defense and Ariel on housing is something which carries great potential, but in these things you can’t foretell what will happen.”

The Ynet piece quotes other settler leaders who were extremely satisfied with the new coalition.

The Jewish Home party (formally known as the National Religious Party) registered an all-time high of 12 seats in the last elections. The settlers also did very well in the internal Likud primaries, with many of their favorites – Moshe Feiglin, Tzipi Hotovely, Yariv Levin and Danny Danon – ranking in high places on the united Likud-Yisrael Beitenu list.

With the help of Yair Lapid, the centrist leader who formed a pact with Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett during coalition negotiations, the settlers were able to fulfill two of their most important political goals: replacing Ehud Barak with a more hospitable defense minister, and taking over the Housing Ministry. The Defense Ministry is the final authority on all civilian projects in the West Bank, while the Housing Ministry can help speed up the bureaucratic process and finance projects in the occupied territories. The Housing Ministry has special importance in the right-wing effort to establish a Jewish presence in Palestinian neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem.

Bennett’s Jewish home party will not oppose Netanyahu’s effort to renew negotiations with the Palestinians, since they believe that even if talks resume, they cannot lead to evacuation of settlements, let alone a solution.

However, it is unclear what would become of the government if the U.S. administration is able to impose another settlement freeze. In such a case, pressure on Jewish Home to leave the government would increase.

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TEST TEST GAL Our team has been devastated by the horrific events of this latest war. The world is reeling from Israel’s unprecedented onslaught on Gaza, inflicting mass devastation and death upon besieged Palestinians, as well as the atrocious attack and kidnappings by Hamas in Israel on October 7. Our hearts are with all the people and communities facing this violence. We are in an extraordinarily dangerous era in Israel-Palestine. The bloodshed has reached extreme levels of brutality and threatens to engulf the entire region. Emboldened settlers in the West Bank, backed by the army, are seizing the opportunity to intensify their attacks on Palestinians. The most far-right government in Israel’s history is ramping up its policing of dissent, using the cover of war to silence Palestinian citizens and left-wing Jews who object to its policies. This escalation has a very clear context, one that +972 has spent the past 14 years covering: Israeli society’s growing racism and militarism, entrenched occupation and apartheid, and a normalized siege on Gaza. We are well positioned to cover this perilous moment – but we need your help to do it. This terrible period will challenge the humanity of all of those working for a better future in this land. Palestinians and Israelis are already organizing and strategizing to put up the fight of their lives. Can we count on your support? +972 Magazine is a leading media voice of this movement, a desperately needed platform where Palestinian and Israeli journalists, activists, and thinkers can report on and analyze what is happening, guided by humanism, equality, and justice. Join us.

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