Israel's government approved various stages of plans for new settlement housing this year, garnering condemnation both at home and around the world. However, an Israel Hayom probe indicates that nearly a year after being approved, some 3,000 housing units that were supposed to have been put on the market immediately are still unavailable for purchase, and the Israel Lands Authority is repeatedly postponing putting out a series of tenders, despite the contractors who are eager to put in bids and get down to work.

Actual construction work has begun on only a few dozen new homes, and settlement officials – concerned that the de facto freeze will continue into 2018 – are demanding that additional housing units be made available for purchase.

This February, Israel evacuated the Amona outpost. As early as January, seeking to pacify the Right and the settlers, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman gave the go-ahead to expedite the planning process for some 5,700 new housing units. Of these, some 3,000 that had been given final approval were supposed to go on the market immediately, a move that was made possible when it appeared that American policy was changing after U.S. President Donald Trump took office.

In theory, as soon as the announcement was made, the government could have published construction tenders, but nothing actually happened. After the evacuation of Amona the following month, Netanyahu faced mounting pressure from the Right. At the end of March, the Diplomatic-Security Cabinet approved a new settlement to house Amona evacuees, and the aforementioned 3,000 housing units were again approved for sale.

The Prime Minister's Office explained that the homes had not been put on the market in January due to technical issues. The renewed approval led to another round of censure both from Europe and in Israel, where both the Left and the Right opposed the decision: the Right argued that it was pulling wool over the eyes of the public because in practice only a few hundred new housing units would be built, and the Left condemned the government for building in Judea and Samaria at all.

Still, after the 3,000 new housing units were approved for a second time, nothing happened. Approximately a week ago, U.N. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nikolay Mladenov informed the U.N. Security Council that the approved housing units had not been built because no contractors wanted to bid on the tenders, but Israel Hayom has discovered that the tenders were never published.

Every few weeks, the Israel Land Authority would announce that the publication of the tenders had been postponed for a number of weeks more. This continued for about 10 months, meaning that other than work on a few dozen new homes, there has been no significant start on construction in the settlements during 2017. The ILA website, which publishes tenders for construction projects in the settlements only after receiving instructions to do so from the government, now states that the tenders will be published in January and February of 2018, but given this year's repeated delays, settlement residents are skeptical.

Here is how the numbers break down: A total of 672 new housing units have been approved for Alfei Menashe; 663 for Beit Aryeh; 755 for Beitar Illit; 552 for Givat Ze'ev; 296 for Beit El; 44 for Maaleh Adumim; and 52 for Karnei Shomron – a total of 3,034 new homes.

Israel Hayom reached out to a number of heads of local councils in Judea and Samaria where new homes were slated to go on sale but did not. Beit El Mayor Shai Alon, who this summer erected a protest tent outside the Prime Minister's Office, was eventually promised that the 300 new homes he had been promised would be put on the market after the Ulpana and Druyanov homes in Beit El were evacuated.

"Over the past few months, a number of contractors interested in the tenders and starting to build in Beit El have contacted us, but unfortunately, as the year is coming to an end, the tenders still haven't gone anywhere. We are very disappointed that the prime minister is not getting into the thick of this, and we expect him to instruct whomever necessary to activate the tenders so that interested contractors can bid, win and build here in Beit El," Alon said.

Avi Naim, head of the Beit Aryeh Local Council, said, "In the Beit Aryeh Local Council we've been waiting years for hundreds of housing units that have been approved for almost 20 years to be made available for sale. When the prime minister announced that thousands of housing units had been released for construction and that development work was actually underway, we were really happy, and we appreciate the complicated political efforts that went into that.

"However, it's been many long months and the sale of the plots hasn't actually happened, and we expect that they be put on sale immediately. The Beit Aryeh Local Council is located in one of the most attractive areas of the country, and there are many young couples and families who are waiting to build their homes here. I expect the prime minister to issue immediate instructions to those responsible to start work," Naim said.

The Yesha Council of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria said: "The number of housing units on which construction has actually started this year is absurd. It's unacceptable that construction is approved but plans are stuck because of uncompromising bureaucracy. We demand that the Construction and Housing Ministry and the Israel Land Authority do everything necessary to enable contractors to submit bids for the existing construction tenders in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley this year."

Settlement officials are now wondering how many housing units will be approved and when. In accordance with the limitations on settlement construction Israel struck with the Trump administration, the government is supposed to approve new construction in four rounds each year. However, this year, the fourth stage was postponed and only three rounds of construction plans were approved, each of which drew international criticism – apparently for nothing.

In January 2018, the government is expected to approve another round of construction plans for Judea and Samaria, including 1,500 homes to be put on the market immediately. It is unclear whether this number refers to 1,500 additional units, or merely half the same housing units that were supposed to have been sold this year. There is also a question about whether the U.S. government is pressuring Israel not to sell the 3,034 homes approved this year, or any other new settlement homes.

On Thursday, officials in the Prime Minister's Office said that Netanyahu has issued all the permits necessary to market the 3,034 new housing units.

"The sale of the homes is handled by the Construction and Housing Ministry and the Israel Land Authority, and the Prime Minister's Office has looked into the matter and been informed that the process will be completed soon."

The ILA said that the tenders would be published at the start of 2018. "The delay was the result of waiting for surveyors."