Threat To Settlement Schools

Jeremy Last - Wednesday 24th February 2010


The mayor of a major West Bank settlement has spoken out over concerns that nearly 1,000 school children will be left without classrooms due to the construction moratorium imposed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last year.

Beitar Illit Mayor Meir Rubinstein held an emergency meeting with a group of politicians on Sunday to highlight the issue.

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Even though Netanyahu insisted the building of synagogues, school and other essential local amenities would be allowed to go ahead when he made the original moratorium announcement in Novemeber, the Betar schools were not included in the list. "The situation is very serious," Rubinstein said. "This is a suffocating order issued by the Netanyahu government."

The United Nations last week called for the moratorium to be extended past its 10-month deadline, although Palestinian leaders, including Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, have only expressed dissatisfaction with its parameters, especially as it does not include East Jerusalem.

Rubinsetein said the civil administration was unable to guarantee that the planned building of 36 public institutions, including 18 schools, would be allowed to go ahead. "It's one thing to forbid construction of an apartment building, but to say your children have no place to learn next year, that is another thing," he said after meering with 10 parliamentarians from the Lobby for Greater Israel.

Meanwhile, Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai has said that dozens of West Bank communities are violating the moratorium in any case. Speaking in the Knesset last week, Vilnai claimed that 29 settlements or outposts are continuing to build in areas covered by the construction freeze. Work was allowed to continue on around 3,000 Jewish homes in the West Bank that had foundations in place at the end of November.

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