Israeli Science Minister: We Will Need to Evacuate 15-25% of Judea and Samaria
by Gidon Ben-Zvi
Israel’s Science, Technology and Space Minister Yaakov Peri said on Saturday that the Jewish state will need to remove its citizens from up to 25% of West Bank territory, Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot reported.
“Israel understands the need for combining settlements and as a result most of Judea and Samaria will converge into a few blocs,” Yediot quoted Perry as saying. “We will have to evacuate 15-25 percent of the territories, but this is certainly a reasonable compromise.”
Speaking at a gathering hosted by the grassroots pro-Israel group ‘Stand with Us’, Peri criticized the building of any settlements situated outside of a few agreed upon clusters and added that, “…construction must be concentrated only in blocs were the majority of the settlers will wind up living as part of a future agreement [with the Palestinian Authority].”
Peri went on to say that the currently ongoing diplomatic process between Israel and the Palestinian Authority is crucial since, “even Israeli scientific endeavors have become a target of boycott movements around the world,” Yediot said.