Yesha Council chairman David Elhayani spoke to Arutz Sheva during the opening of the Knesset winter session Monday, where he sharply criticized the conduct of Meretz party leaders who met with Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

"A party that had maintained its moral purity, fighting corruption and fighting for democracy, meets with the most corrupt man in the Palestinian Authority, who is unwilling to accept the existence of the State of Israel, who supports terrorism - and does not say a word, especially about incitement against Jews. This is the height of hypocrisy," Elhayani stated,

In response to the claim that Meretz's meeting came after a similar meeting initiated by Defense Minister Benny Gantz he answers, "There is misunderstanding with regards to the defense minister. When the defense minister comes and says he wants to do good with the Palestinian economy - it is a wise decision. But to give the money to the corrupt? Come and learn from us - who live in Judea and Samaria - and learn what is good for the Palestinian economy."

Arutz Sheva asked Elhayani for his opinion on the current government's conduct towards the settlements. "We all wanted a right-wing government to be formed, but the only way it could have happened was for Benjamin Netanyahu to move aside. He chose not to do so and we found ourselves in a difficult governmental situation, but we will measure it in terms of the settlements by its actions and not by speech."

"For now, it is a government that has transferred more budgets to Judea and Samaria, and the decision regarding Eviatar is also good. "I hope we will see more such signs in the next Supreme Planning Council meeting. The fact that at the moment in the Biden administration it is clear that there is no situation for political negotiations is good for us and it is a product of the government," he concluded.