The Chairman of the Gush Etzion Regional Council, Sha'ul Goldstein, sent a letter to his constituents Sunday in an attempt to ease tensions over the order to freeze construction in Judea and Samaria. “Along with other heads of councils, we are checking how the order can be challenged through the courts,” he wrote. “In my estimate, the lawsuits will total more than NIS 1 billion."
Goldstein estimated that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was influenced by “wild incitement” from within Israel and without. “The freeze decree that has landed on us is a continuation of the unfortunate recognition of a Palestinian state by the Prime Minister,” he explained. “This incitement turns things upside down through lies and mischaracterizations of the reality.” As a result, he said, “aggressors receive rewards and victims pay a double prize.”
Goldstein wrote that he has met with government ministers and Likud MKs in an effort to cancel or water d
"We shall continue to build and we shall emerge stronger and more resolute.”
own the orders. "It seems that American pressure is much more frightening than the threats by Likud members,” he said.
"I would like to send you a very clear and strong message,” he added in an attempt to rally spirits. “Do not falter! We will continue to live in Gush Etzion and develop it for our children and our children's children! We have been through tough times in the past and it always seems like this is the worst it has ever been. Despite this, we have grown and we have built magnificent communities! This time, too, we shall continue to build and we shall emerge stronger and more resolute.”
"The holiday of Chanukah symbolizes the victory of the eternal spirit over matter, which is temporary, but it also represents the victory of the few who are right over the many who are wrong. With modesty and an effort to perform tikkun [improving the world], we too will pray for better times for the Nation of Israel,” he concluded.