The Obama Administration has sent representatives, some open and some covert, to monitor construction in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, according to a report in Israel National News, an agency based out of the settler town of Beit El.

Shaul Goldstein, regional council head for the Eztion Bloc of settlements south of Bethlehem, said that he had met recently with an American diplomat who asked for updates on all building projects in the area. Goldstein said that he simply told the representative the truth, and added that "we have come home to build and to remain on our land."

But long-time settler and former Knesset Member Elyakim Haetzni warned in a letter to settler leaders not to cooperate with Obama's representatives, since any information given to them will be used to further pressure Israel.

Haetzni also blasted the American government for thinking it has the right to keep tabs on an ally in such a manner.

"It’s great chutzpah of a foreign government to openly collect information and supervise a country on that country’s own territory. We must not cooperate with this brazenness."

News of the "Obama spies" came just as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under tremendous US pressure, announced a 10-month settlement freeze.