Nature, Natural

Kadima MK Otniel Schneller, a former director of the Council of Jewish Communities of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip, was quick to say that a complete settlement freeze would never happen.

"Nature is stronger than any declaration," he said.

Schneller differentiated between a geographic freeze and a demographic freeze: "A demographic freeze will be a financial disaster; a geographic freeze is something that, in economic terms, we can live with."

He estimated that a settlement freeze that would include projects already in production would be an impossible burden for the state.

"If the government wants to avoid being exposed to lawsuits that will add up to the hundreds of millions of shekels, it must completely differentiate between new construction and construction that is already in progress," said Schneller. He said he both believed and hoped that this was how the government would act.

"In purely financial terms, the best thing for the economy is a categorical assertion not to build new settlements, but not to freeze the existing settlements," Schneller said.