Israeli Legislator Danon Pushes Netanyahu to Restart West Bank Building

By Jonathan Ferziger - May 17, 2010 

Danny Danon, a Likud Party lawmaker and head of its international support arm, is pushing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make good on his promise to let West Bank settlement construction resume in September.

While a temporary ban declared by Netanyahu in November expires Sept. 26, Danon said today he will mobilize supporters inside Israel and out so the prime minister doesn't extend the moratorium as a gesture to the Palestinians and President Barack Obama, who is trying to broker Middle East peace talks.

"That's going to be D-Day in Judea and Samaria," Danon, who put a virtual hourglass on his website ticking off the minutes to Sept. 26, said in an interview in Jerusalem, using the biblical terms for the West Bank. "There will be an enormous amount of pressure coming from the White House" and settlement opponents within Israel "to convince him the right thing to do is to extend the freeze."

'Free Shalit' Takes New Approach

The campaign to free kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit has taken on a new angle as several organizations band together to pressure Hamas. The latest campaign involves stripping terrorist prisoners of their privileges in an attempt to convince Hamas that time is not on its side.

Previous Shalit rallies have generally focused on raising awareness of the young Israeli's plight, instead of promoting a specific strategy to win his safe return.

Organizations involved in the new campaign have kicked off an educational initiative in Tel Aviv. They plan to explain their view to the general public, in hopes of increasing pressure on the government to enact their proposal.

A similar initiative is being promoted in the Knesset, where MK Danny Danon (Likud) is pushing a bill that would curtail the right of terrorist prisoners to receive visits in jail until Shalit is freed.