Following the failed vote on the settlement regulation bill, Prime<br />Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved new construction in West Bank<br />settlements. The bill, which attempted to evade a High Court ruling<br />ordering the eviction of five homes in Beit El's Ulpana neighborhood,<br />was voted down 69:22. Netanyahu and Housing and Construction Minister<br />Ariel Atias gave the greenlight on 851 new housing units -- 300 for<br />Beit El and 551 for four other settlements. The two agreed to<br />immediately issue the construction tenders. The settlements most<br />likely to get new housing units at this time are Efrat, Gush Etzion<br />and Karnei Shomron. Netanyahu is risking censure by the United States<br />and Europe, which have repeatedly voiced their objection to expanding<br />existing settlements.
