Hundreds of families purchased apartments in Beit El nearly a year ago, but due to the Ministry of Defense's insistence on a particularly high amount for copying an IDF base located on the site, construction is delayed on the backs of the buyers.
Last October, 346 housing units were approved for marketing in Beit El, along with public buildings and extensive commercial areas, in the area where the Benjamin Spatial Division is currently located.
As part of the ulpana agreement, it was decided to evacuate two bases located in the area of Beit El, in order to allow construction in them.
A few years ago, a Border Police base costing NIS 50 million was evacuated, and 300 housing units were built on it, which will be inaugurated today in a ceremony attended by opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu. Infrastructure in favor of copying, not far from its current location.
It was previously stated that a sum of NIS 80 million was required to copy the base, but this was not done.
An appraiser who examined the land determined that it was worth 105 million, but the defense establishment demands 155 million shekels in favor of transferring the base and refuses to vacate it without receiving the amount.
The Beit El Council complains that the Ministry of Defense and the Israel Land Authority have been asked to negotiate the amount and the evacuation, but no one is doing so, despite repeated requests.
"Construction in Judea and Samaria is a complex and exhausting journey without a defined schedule, and depends on a variety of factors and approvals that are not found anywhere else in the State of Israel," says the head of the council, Shai Alon.
"The fact that all this still does not allow for actual construction on the ground is the theft of the Hersh sheep and the inconceivable abuse of settlement. While a housing crisis and Palestinian construction are raging, we are experiencing terrible opacity and lack of cooperation."
It should be noted that the delay greatly prolongs the construction process in the field.
Even after the whole procedure is approved, it will take about two years until it will be possible to get on the ground with the tractors for the purpose of building the apartments after the base is vacated.
The Ministry of Defense responded: "At the request of the Israel Land Authority and the Council, the defense establishment has advanced a process to examine the costs of relocating the camp.
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