The Gush Emunim backed off from their plans, announced last week, to break ground for 10 new settlements on the West Bank over the Passover holidays. The Military Government prohibited any action of that sort. But a senior official said today that permission was granted the Gush to tour the sites of the proposed settlements. The official explained that they would visit the sites and leave without ceremonies of any kind. The Gush announcement last Thursday took the government by surprise inasmuch as the Cabinet has not approved any new settlements in the occupied territories at this time.
The Gush said they were going ahead in order to create “unerasable facts.” They were supported by Transport Minister Haim Landau, a Likud hardliner opposed to the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty. Landau told a group of businessmen in Tel Aviv last week that there would be ground-breaking ceremonies for 10 new settlements and that he hoped their number would increase. But Deputy Premier Yigael Yadin issued a statement denying that any such plans were approved and suggested that Landau was speaking only for himself.
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