It appears that Finance Minister and Adjunct Minister in the Defense Ministry in charge of the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria Bezalel Smotrich has hit the ground running in the new government’s first full week in office. Smotrich and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday evening (7:30 PM), will hold a press conference to present their plan for dealing with the rampant price increases. And under his other hat, Smotrich is bulldozing illegal Arab construction in Area C.
On December 12, 2022, on Hanukkah, a group calling itself Our Place IL posted the above picture, depicting an illegal villa that lit up the gloomy night. It was a magnificent sight, unless one considered the fact that this villa had been under a court-issued demolition order, and that it was being erected––practically finished––at the heart of a nature preserve.
זוכרים את המבנה שסיפרנו לכם עליו בחנוכה ?
לא תאמינו איך הוא נראה הבוקר ! pic.twitter.com/T85uGSEIiK
— בשטח שלנו (@OurPlaceIL) January 10, 2023
According to Our Place IL, on Wednesday morning the enforcement of the law was finally carried out for an illegal villa that was being built for four years on the Tsreda ridge near Pdeul in southwestern Samaria.
“We thank the security forces and look forward to the destruction of the rest of the illegal structures around the one that was destroyed this morning,” Our Place IL tweeted, promising to keep tracking illegal Arab expansion into western Samaria.
Here’s how the illegal villa looked after the visit from a Civil Administration bulldozer. After close to 50 years during which the office of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories has been systematically ignoring illegal Arab construction while at the same time razing Jewish construction, the reign of terror is over.
Thank you, Mr. Smotrich. We voted for you.
