Netanyahu pledges $11.5 million for settlements' security
'They won’t uproot us from here,' Netanyahu said, announcing the package
Interim Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged Thursday to allocate NIS 40 million -- or some $11.5 million -- for the security of the settlements on the West Bank, known in Israel as Judea and Samaria.
The cabinet is set to green-light the assistance package on Sunday, with NIS 34.5 million earmarked for security and NIS 5.5 million to be granted to the West Bank emergency service.
An extra NIS 3.6 million will be invested in psychological counseling services in the area.
“We are continuing to strengthen the settlement movement and help it,” Netanyahu is quoted as saying in a press release by the Prime Minister's office. "They won’t uproot us from here."
The move comes following the US State Department's bombshell announcement that it no longer considers Israeli settlements illegal under international law.
The interim premier said the decision was intended to show that Israel would not shy away from hurting those who sought to hurt it.
According to the release, David Elhyani, head of the Yesha Council -- a settler body -- praised Netanyahu for his "persistence in developing settlements in Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley."
Netanyahu also praised the IDF for demolishing the houses of two Palestinians suspected of murdering Dvir Sorek, an Israeli soldier stabbed to death in August.
The West Bank activity comes as the veteran leader is fighting to maintain his grip on power both on the electoral front and on the legal front, where he faces charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three cases.