Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may be married to Hagai Ben-Artzi's sister Sara, but Ben-Artzi still refuses to get excited about the prime minister’s July 29 announcement approving the immediate construction of 300 new housing units in the West Bank settlement of Beit El. Ben-Artzi considers it a meaningless promise. Netanyahu made the announcement to placate his coalition partners in HaBayit HaYehudi who were outraged when bulldozers complied that day with a Supreme Court ruling and began demolishing the so-called Dreinoff Houses on the outskirts of the settlement of Beit El. The two buildings had been constructed by settlers on private Palestinian land. Violent clashes broke out between the police, soldiers and settlers at the site.
Ben-Artzi went so far as to accuse Netanyahu of acting with evil intent when, the night before the demolition, he allowed the forced eviction of a group of young men who had barricaded themselves in the contested buildings. According to Ben-Artzi, there was no need to take such a drastic measure on that particular evening, when the young settlers were celebrating the traditional Tu Be'Av feast, commemorating the day of love.
