With the formation of the new government about a year ago, and despite criticism of the moves that enabled its formation, some Yesha council heads believed that Prime Minister Naftali Bennett would promote construction in the territories and regulate the status of illegal outposts.
But they soon realized that this government, also headed by the former director general of the Yesha Council, succumbed to American pressure, and whoever decides when to convene the Supreme Planning Administration in the Civil Administration (MTA) and how many building plans it will approve - is mainly The Minister of Defense, the latter, for his part, is in no hurry to schedule such discussions.
If during Netanyahu's tenure (at least until President Joe Biden entered the White House) MTA convened quarterly, during Bennett's time it happened only twice - last October and about a week ago. For comparison, until Biden's entry into the White House, between the years 2017-2020 (Trump’s tenure) MTA approved nearly 33,000 construction plans at various planning stages, although in practice only a few thousand reached the construction start phase.
In the eyes of the settlers, this is not enough, and certainly does not address the increase in population and the demand for new apartments in the settlements.
The shooting attack last December, in which Yeshivat Chumash student Yehuda Dimentman was killed, was the moment when the settlers decided it was time to overthrow the government.
They launched a campaign that included demonstrations and pressure on coalition members.
About two weeks ago, the head of the Samaria Council, Yossi Dagan, led a protest demonstration at noon in front of the Prime Minister's Office, which was attended by hundreds of Samaria residents, council heads and Knesset members.
The demonstrators protested that the IAEA agenda had been removed from about 1,800 housing units that were promised to be discussed. This is the second time this has happened, and in addition - it turns out that even construction plans approved in the previous IAA were not really promoted and stuck in the various pipes.
The fear is that this time too it will happen, and the de facto freeze will continue.
Find a sympathetic ear
A few hours after the same demonstration, Dagan flew to the United States at the head of a small delegation, which went out with the help of the Samaria Foundation (by which the author was invited), to a marathon of meetings on Capitol Hill, in order to put pressure on US administration to intervene in Israeli settlement issues. Before arriving in Washington, Dagan met with the governor of Nebraska to discuss the promotion of a boycott law in his country - a law that allows economic sanctions to be imposed on organizations and companies that boycott the settlements, and which was created in response to the global Ben & Jerrys company. , Due to his refusal to stop selling ice cream in the settlements.
A few months ago, Republicans in Nebraska tried to pass the law, but the move was thwarted by Democrats in the state.
The governor, Pete Ricketts, one of the owners of the popular Chicago Cubs baseball team and who sees himself as a Republican nominee for vice president in the next election, informed Dagan that he would work to advance the law, and the two agreed to form a joint working team. "We will continue to work to make sure that the people of Samaria stop being harmed by the boycott attempts, and we will expand the cooperation," Ricketts promised at the same meeting.
From the meetings in Washington came out unusual statements on behalf of the members of the Republican House of Representatives, who in meetings with Israeli officials underestimate the public criticism of the administration.
For example, Brian Babin of Texas said: "I hear that pressure is being exerted to prevent the development and growth of neighborhoods and communities in Judea and Samaria, and I am disgusted by what our administration is doing. I hope the Biden administration will stop the pressure."
Members of the House of Representatives Greg Stobby of Florida and Ronnie Jackson of Texas (who previously served as a physician to Presidents Obama and Trump) also spoke out against the US administration's pressure on Israel.
The latter even called on his colleagues in the House of Representatives to help Israel in the face of pressure from the Biden administration.
Dagan heads one of the most powerful groups in the Likud - the settlement group - and as such, is also an opposition to the current government.
He sees no dissonance in the fact that in Israel he is demonstrating and trying to overthrow the government, and in Washington he is working to reduce the pressure on her.
"I have to act on all fronts," he says.
"My duty is not only to shout at our government, but also to act to reduce the pressure on Israel, whether it is a government I vote for or whether it is a government that is not. The issue of construction in Judea and Samaria is an internal matter of Israel, and the United States has no moral right. intervene.
I am demonstrating in front of my government, and here in Washington I am doing information.
"Anyone who expects the United States not to condemn it for construction, and to act in condemnation of the US administration, will never act in Israel's interests."
Dagan (right) with Ronny Jackson of Texas,
The war of the heads of the Yesha councils on construction in Judea and Samaria is directly related to the issue of mass, after realizing that it would be impossible to evacuate one million Jews in Judea and Samaria. This is the goal they set for themselves. In localities, "says Dagan, one of the evacuees from Sha-Nur.
Condemning symmetry
In recent years, Dagan has met with hundreds of members of Congress - from the House of Representatives and the Senate, with opinion leaders and public figures.
He is not the only one who realized that the road to construction in the settlements passes through the corridors of the Capitol.
The head of the Benjamin Council, Israel Ganz, also held dozens of meetings this year with members of the American Congress to promote a lobby for settlement, as did the heads of the Yesha Council. Part of the settlers' information activities in Israel and abroad.
Since the office was abolished, the budget tap has also been shut down, and the delegations have shrunk and become an almost private propaganda arm that relies on donations.
In the meetings, Dagan also floods the "settler violence" campaign, which has been resonating in recent months, in Israel and especially abroad. Dagan explained why he claims that this is a false campaign.
"I explain to them that millions of dollars of their money go to delusional, inclusive and incorrect campaigns. I present the data, show them that there is no symmetry. That it is the other way around. "The police, the courts, the councils. In the case of the Palestinians, terrorists who harmed Jews receive good salaries."
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