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Netanyahu's so-called 'settlement freeze'

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly admitted that he has halted settlement construction because of the delicate international setup, but this is aimed at appeasing the United States, pretending that he is battling rightist coalition forces.
An Israeli protester holds a placard and a flag during a demonstration against a court decision to demolish housing units in the Jewish settlement of Beit El, outside the Supreme Court in Jerusalem July 8, 2015. Israel's Supreme Court ruled that 24 housing units, built on Palestinian owned land, be razed by July 30, according to local media. The placard in Hebrew reads, "The Supreme Court is ruining us". REUTERS/Ammar Awad - RTX1JMGQ
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On July 14, exactly when reports were flowing in about the signing of the historic nuclear agreement between six world powers and Iran, the Likud Party sent a respectable delegation of five ministers on a tour in Samaria.

Twenty-four hours earlier, at a Likud faction meeting at the Knesset, a clash took place between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the heads of Judea and Samaria local councils. These officials argued that construction in Judea-Samaria has been under a de facto freeze and that Netanyahu is not fulfilling his promise of building 300 housing units in the Beit El settlement. Reportedly, Netanyahu did not deny this, and even admitted to them that Israel is not building in the settlements and cannot develop existing settlements due to the tense international situation in which the State of Israel finds itself.

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