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Itongadol.- Former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman responded on Monday to reports on Army Radio, which said there has been a de facto settlement freeze in Jerusalem neighborhoods located beyond the Green Line since the beginning of the year.
"One should view this as a temporary hiatus," Lieberman said. "We have an interest in [Secretary of State] Kerry succeeding. You don\’t always have to be right; you can also be smart." Lieberman added that "during [Joe] Biden\’s last visit it was also not right to release the tender. There is a proportional and correct approach here."
Earlier on Monday, Army Radio reported that since the beginning of 2013 not one apartment has been marketed beyond the Green Line in Jerusalem, citing information it had obtained from the Housing and Construction Ministry. Sources at the Israel Lands Administration told the radio station they blamed the Prime Minister\’s Office for the delay – the office is directly delaying marketing of plots for housing in East Jerusalem.
The Prime Minister\’s Office declined to comment.
Last March, Liberman said that his Yisrael Beiteinu party would seek to prevent any renewal of a construction freeze in West Bank settlements. Lieberman told reporters at a press conference that after "seeing no results" from an attempted freeze, he would "oppose every effort" to try again. "We are prepared to make gestures, but they cannot be unilateral," Lieberman said. "All members of Yisrael Beiteinu will oppose a free if such [a suggestion] is raised.