On Wednesday 16th January, the Israel\'s Housing Ministry issued tenders for the construction of 198 new housing units in the settlements of Gush Etzion complex in the West Bank, less than a week before the national elections. The announcement invited developers to bid on two projects seeking to add 114 housing units to the Efrat settlement and 84 units to Kiryat Arba. The tenders were issued following reports citing US President Barack Obama acerbically criticizing Israel\'s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for announcing plans to build thousands of new homes in the E1 area that connects Ma\'ali Adumim and Jerusalem. Earlier today,Peace Now issued a report revealing that a  number of construction projects were launched or approved for Jewish settlements in the West Bank in 2012.