Settlers Respond to Hebron Terror Attack by Building Again

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- A settlers' umbrella group unilaterally ended the West Bank construction moratorium in response to the terrorist attack near Hebron.

Hundreds of settlers gathered at sites throughout the West Bank to begin construction on several structures whose building was delayed by the freeze on building in the West Bank, which began in late November 2009 and is to end Sept. 26.

The Yesha Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samara had announced Wednesday that the building would begin at 6 p.m. -- the same time that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with President Obama and just hours before the start of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

“This brutal attack again proved that despite what might be going on in Washington right now, the Palestinians have no goal to create a peaceful state for themselves but are entirely driven to destroy our state and our people,” said Naftali Bennett, director general of the Yesha Council.

“The only response that will show our resolve against terror is to commit ourselves to building, and effective Wednesday evening we will bring this senseless freeze to an immediate end," he said.

Among the structures started were a kindergarten in Kedumim in the northern West Bank, a community center in Adam located near Jerusalem, and a private home in Beit Haggai in the Hebron Hills, where the victims lived.