Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel on Thursday slammed a secret approval by the security cabinet to authorize construction plans for Palestinians in the West Bank. Ariel, of the hard-right party Habayit Hayehudi demanded a review of the plans by the full cabinet at its next weekly session Sunday.

"This is a miserable reality, in which the settlers get sticks and the carrots go to the Palestinians. We never expected this," Ariel said.

The security cabinet, voting secretly in mid-September, authorized a proposal drawn up by the Civil Administration on Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman's behalf to approve Palestinian construction in West Bank Area C, where all the Jewish settlements in the territory are built.

"I demand this be debated by the cabinet. Such a decision should be taken by the entire cabinet, not a secret cabinet that tries to hide it from other cabinet members," he added. "I hope it will be raised at the next meeting this Sunday and of course we will seek to thwart the idea raised by the security cabinet."

The decision by Israel to permit Palestinian construction in Area C is the first of its kind in years. Though the plan was not deemed to be sensitive for diplomatic or security reasons, it was kept secret, with not a single detail leaked to the press. A senior Israeli official said the reason was because the decision was seen as politically sensitive.

According to the official, settler leaders hold sway in the Likud and there are strong objections to Palestinian construction in Area C in the Habayit Hayehudi party. Objections to the issue have grown only stronger with settlers pressing the government to avert a court-ordered demolition by year's end of the illegal outpost of Amona.

The proposal was initiated and put to a cabinet vote by Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, as part of his so-called "carrots and sticks" policy to encourage moderate Palestinians, a plan he presented to Israeli media in August.

In defense of his proposal, Lieberman has said that: "the program's goal is to do good by those prepared to live in coexistence with us and on the other hand make things harder for those planning terror attacks."

Lawmaker Tzipi Livni (Zionist Union) applauded the decision but criticized the government for having kept it a secret. "The security cabinet's decision is correct, and a long time coming. It contributes to security. If it would have been done in the open we could also have advanced our interests with countries in the region and the wider world. The secrecy is out of fear of (far-right leader Naftali) Bennett, and that's our loss."