Deri: Building Plans Should Include Beitar Illit

The chareidi city of Beitar Illit should be included in the government’s new plans for building homes in Yehuda and Shomron, Interior Minister Rabbi Aryeh Deri has told Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Arutz Sheva reported on Thursday.

Exclusion of Beitar Illit from the announcement of 2,500 new housing units earlier this week constitutes discrimination against the chareidi community, Rabbi Deri reportedly charged.

Netanyahu promised that he would authorize expansion of the city. He also assured the Interior Minister that no discrimination was intended, and that he supports “massive building for chareidim,” who suffer disproportionately from the ongoing housing shortage in the country.

The government was also criticized by the Yesha Council, which urged building throughout Yehuda and Shomron, not only in the existing blocs, according to the newly announced plan.

Yesha members said that “a message was sent which should not have been sent. The U.S. administration has been replaced, and the state of Israel needs to adapt. The Israeli government must approve all plans which are on the table and accept our tenders for construction in all of Yehuda and Shomron, and the Jordan Valley.”