Plans to reopen some West Bank roads for Palestinian vehicles have been put on hold due to the escalating violence, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said Wednesday.
Ya’alon did not specify which roads were included in the now-shelved plan, which was being devised by the Israel Defense Forces’ Central Command.
“In recent years, in the wake of the last decade’s terrorism wave, checkpoints have been erected and roads have been closed,” the defense minister said. “Due to an improvement in security that began after Operation Defensive Shield and lasted until recently, steps have been taken to ease [these restrictions]. These administrative efforts included understandings with regard to reopening more roads in the future, but due to the escalation, these steps have been frozen.”
Ya’alon made the comments during a Knesset plenum session in response to a question by MK Orit Strock (Habayit Hayehudi).
“I am glad to hear that these steps have been frozen,” Strock then said. “One needs to be blind and deaf to not realize that the Palestinians have declared a road intifada. Clearly, as the defense minister, you must take note of this road intifada and not allow it to hurt us.”
Strock said that more roads should be closed, and called on Ya’alon to make efforts to allocate additional 1.9 million shekels toward armoring settlers’ vehicles. The defense minister responded by saying that such allocations are the responsibility of the Finance Ministry.
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