Israele : ministri approvano nuovo piano di sviluppo a vantaggio degli insediamenti israeliani
1 Sintesi personale
| Il governo ha approvato una nuova mappa delle aree di priorità nazionale comprendente altri 20 insediamenti in Cisgiordania e le comunità abitate da ex coloni di Gaza. Centinaia di città e villaggi usufruiranno di sussidi statali per le abitazioni, le infrastrutture, l' istruzione, la cultura e la sicurezza. L'elenco è stato aggiornato per includere decine di nuovi insediamenti in Cisgiordania. Quindici delle 20 comunità sono roccaforti di Habayit Hayehudi, uno dei principali partner della coalizione di Netanyahu. Al contrario due comunità haredi sono stati rimossi dalla lista. Tuttavia il governo precisa che la scelta di includere gli insediamenti sulla lista deriva da motivi di sicurezza e non è affatto legata ad una politica di espansione degli insediamenti. Quattro ministri si sono astenuti di votare tra questi il ministro della Giustizia Tzipi Livni e il ministro della protezione Ambientale Amir Peretz (Hatnuah). Hanno accusato il governo di promuovere un ordine del giorno di parte a scapito degli interessi nazionali. "E 'inaccettabile che Kiryat Gat e Kiryat Malachi non siano sulla lista a causa della cosiddetta vicinanza al centro, nonostante la difficile situazione socio-economica e allo stesso tempo siano incluse insediamenti remoti fino a poco fa considerati avamposti illlegali con il pretesto di 'esigenze di sicurezza,' "ha dichiarato Peretz. Alcune delle comunità di nuova priorità sono al di fuori dei grandi blocchi di insediamenti come Eshkolot e Negohot nel sud di Hebron Hills. Altri insediamenti sulla lista includono Rehelim, Sansana e Bruchin che sono stati considerati avamposti illegali fino a diversi mesi fa, ma sono stati legalizzati dal consiglio dei ministri prima delle ultime elezioni. Altri insediamenti della lista sono gli insediamenti in Cisgiordania di Nofim, Geva Binyamin, Ma'aleh Micmas e Elon Moreh. Diverse comunità popolate da ex coloni della Striscia di Gaza sono state aggiunte alla lista. Questi sono Be'er Ganim, Bnei Dekalim, Ganei Tal, Netzer Hazani e Nitzan. Tutte queste comunità soddisfano i criteri stabiliti dal consiglio dei ministri per ricevere i benefici tra cui la vicinanza al confine o il grado di minaccia alla sicurezza. Altre comunità verranno aggiunti alla mappa e non sono associate a un lobby politica : Kibbutz Alumot nella Valle del Giordano, Alon Hagalil nella bassa Galilea, Moshav Amatzia che ha un mix di residenti laici e religiosi , Kadita in Alta Galilea, Shalva e Mizpe Ilan nel Negev. Livni ha detto che ha deciso di astenersi piuttosto che votare contro il piano, perché "comprende che ci sono misure volte a ridurre le disuguaglianze sociali ed economiche e a rafforzare la sicurezza in alcune zone svantaggiate." Quattro comunità sono state rimosse. Due di loro sono abitate in prevalenza da ultra-ortodossi, come l'insediamento in Cisgiordania del Betar Ilit ( la maggior parte dei 40.000 residenti hanno votato per il Shas.) La comunità di Harish in Wadi Ara è stata tolta dalla lista. Gli altri due sono gli insediamenti di Efrat e Kedar. Comunità che beneficiano di uno statuto prioritario nazionale riceveranno finanziamenti immediati in materia di istruzione, cultura, sport e tutela dell'ambiente. Tuttavia le prestazioni in abitazioni, infrastrutture, agricoltura e sviluppo rurale richiedono un' approvazione addizionale a seguito della promessa di Israele al governo americano nel 2005 di astenersi da incoraggiare gli israeliani a trasferirsi in insediamenti. Nel suo discorso di apertura il Primo Minsiter Benjamin Netanyahu ha detto: "C'è un luogo che è sempre al top delle nostre priorità:Gerusalemme e per questo avrà più benifici " |
Mapping national priorities || Cabinet approves new development plan to benefit more Israeli settlements
Several West Bank settlements and communities inhabited by former Gaza settlers to start receiving government benefits; two Haredi communities removed from list.
By
Barak Ravid
The cabinet on Sunday approved a new map of national priority areas, which includes an additional 20 West Bank settlements and communities inhabited by former Gaza settlers.
The
list of national priority areas features hundreds of towns and villages
that are entitled to government benefits in housing, infrastructure,
education, culture and security. The list was last updated in 2009 to include dozens new West Bank settlements.
Fifteen out of 20 communities to receive national priority status are strongholds of Habayit Hayehudi, one of Netanyahu’s chief coalition partners. Conversely, two Haredi communities have been removed from the list. However, the government claims that the reason for including settlements on the list has to do with security and is not at all linked to a policy of settlement expansion.
Four ministers abstained in Sunday's vote, including Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Environmental Protection Minister Amir Peretz (Hatnuah). They blamed the government for promoting a partisan agenda at the expense of a national one.
"It is unacceptable that [northern Negev towns] Kiryat Gat and Kiryat Malachi are not on the list due to so-called proximity to the center, despite their difficult socioeconomic state, and at the same time include remote settlements, that were until recently illegal outposts, under the guise of 'security needs,'" Peretz said.
Some of the newly prioritized communities are outside the large settlement blocs, like Eshkolot and Negohot in the southern Hebron Hills. Other settlements on the list include Rehelim, Sansana and Bruchin, which were considered illegal outposts until several months ago, but were legalized by the cabinet before the last elections. Other settlements on the list are the West Bank settlements of Nofim, Geva Binyamin, Ma’aleh Michmash and Elon Moreh.
Several communities populated by former Gaza Strip settlers, who were evacuated from their communities in 2005, were also added to the list. These are Be’er Ganim, Bnei Dekalim, Ganei Tal, Netzer Hazani and Nitzan. All these communities meet the criteria set by the cabinet for receiving the benefits, including proximity to the border or the degree of security threat. Other communities that will be added to the map and are not associated with a particular political lobby are Kibbutz Alumot in the Jordan Valley, Alon Hagalil in the Lower Galilee, Moshav Amatzia in the souther Lachish district, which has a mix of both secular and religious residents, Kadita in the Upper Galilee, Shalva and Mitzpeh Ilan in the Negev.
Livni said that she decided to abstain, rather than vote against the plan, because "it also includes measures to reduce socioeconomic inequalities and bolster the security in some underprivileged areas."
Four communities that had been on the list for the past four years have been removed. Two of them are predominantly ultra-Orthodox, like the West Bank settlement of Betar Ilit, most of whose 40,000 residents have voted for United Torah Judaism or Shas. The community of Harish in Wadi Ara — that former Housing Minister Ariel Atias (Shas) was personally involved in attempts to establish a Haredi city there — was also removed from the list. The other two are the settlements of Efrat and Kedar.
Communities benefiting from national priority status will receive immediate funding in education, culture, sports and environmental protection. However, benefits in housing, infrastructure, agriculture and rural development will require additional approval from government panels, following Israel’s pledge to the American government in 2005 to refrain from encouraging Israelis to move to the settlements.
In his opening remarks, Prime Minsiter Benjamin Netanyahu said, "There is one place that is always at the top of our priorities – our capital, Jerusalem. Jerusalem is entitled to all the benefits the plan other communities get, and more." Articolo
2
Fifteen out of 20 communities to receive national priority status are strongholds of Habayit Hayehudi, one of Netanyahu’s chief coalition partners. Conversely, two Haredi communities have been removed from the list. However, the government claims that the reason for including settlements on the list has to do with security and is not at all linked to a policy of settlement expansion.
Four ministers abstained in Sunday's vote, including Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Environmental Protection Minister Amir Peretz (Hatnuah). They blamed the government for promoting a partisan agenda at the expense of a national one.
"It is unacceptable that [northern Negev towns] Kiryat Gat and Kiryat Malachi are not on the list due to so-called proximity to the center, despite their difficult socioeconomic state, and at the same time include remote settlements, that were until recently illegal outposts, under the guise of 'security needs,'" Peretz said.
Some of the newly prioritized communities are outside the large settlement blocs, like Eshkolot and Negohot in the southern Hebron Hills. Other settlements on the list include Rehelim, Sansana and Bruchin, which were considered illegal outposts until several months ago, but were legalized by the cabinet before the last elections. Other settlements on the list are the West Bank settlements of Nofim, Geva Binyamin, Ma’aleh Michmash and Elon Moreh.
Several communities populated by former Gaza Strip settlers, who were evacuated from their communities in 2005, were also added to the list. These are Be’er Ganim, Bnei Dekalim, Ganei Tal, Netzer Hazani and Nitzan. All these communities meet the criteria set by the cabinet for receiving the benefits, including proximity to the border or the degree of security threat. Other communities that will be added to the map and are not associated with a particular political lobby are Kibbutz Alumot in the Jordan Valley, Alon Hagalil in the Lower Galilee, Moshav Amatzia in the souther Lachish district, which has a mix of both secular and religious residents, Kadita in the Upper Galilee, Shalva and Mitzpeh Ilan in the Negev.
Livni said that she decided to abstain, rather than vote against the plan, because "it also includes measures to reduce socioeconomic inequalities and bolster the security in some underprivileged areas."
Four communities that had been on the list for the past four years have been removed. Two of them are predominantly ultra-Orthodox, like the West Bank settlement of Betar Ilit, most of whose 40,000 residents have voted for United Torah Judaism or Shas. The community of Harish in Wadi Ara — that former Housing Minister Ariel Atias (Shas) was personally involved in attempts to establish a Haredi city there — was also removed from the list. The other two are the settlements of Efrat and Kedar.
Communities benefiting from national priority status will receive immediate funding in education, culture, sports and environmental protection. However, benefits in housing, infrastructure, agriculture and rural development will require additional approval from government panels, following Israel’s pledge to the American government in 2005 to refrain from encouraging Israelis to move to the settlements.
In his opening remarks, Prime Minsiter Benjamin Netanyahu said, "There is one place that is always at the top of our priorities – our capital, Jerusalem. Jerusalem is entitled to all the benefits the plan other communities get, and more." Articolo
2
Livni to impose freedom of information act on WZO settlements division
Zehava Gal-On at the President's residence, January 31, 2013. Photo: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni (Hatnua) plans to impose the freedom of information
act on the World Zionist Organization’s settlements division, so that interested
citizens can receive details of its West Bank development activities.
She informed the Knesset Law Committee on Sunday of her intention to do so.
Meretz party head MK Zehava Gal-On had asked Livni to take this step after a number of entities, including nongovernmental group Yesh Din, had failed to receive information from the division, which since 1968 has been in charge of the initial development of West Bank settlements. This includes initial land preparation and infrastructure.
In the last decade it has also been involved in projects in the Negev and the Galilee.
Although the settlements division operates under the auspices of the WZO, it executes the direct orders of the Israeli government. Its funding comes from the Knesset-approved state budget.
Earlier this month, Gal-On raised questions about the division’s budget, which she noted was six times larger than the sum allocated by the Knesset.
In June she wrote a letter to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the Knesset’s legal adviser, Eyal Yinon, in which she asked them to limit budgetary transfers to the WZO settlements division.
In the letter, she explained that in 2011 the Knesset had allocated a NIS 62.35 million to the division. But its actual budget with additional monetary transfers grew to NIS 373.3m. Similarly, Gal-On wrote, in 2010 the division’s allocated budget was NIS 68.5m., but with monetary transfers it grew to NIS 231m.
Neither Netanyahu nor Yinon responded to her letter.
In response, WZO settlements division head Daniel Kritchman wrote to Gal-On that it was understood that the initial Knesset budget was only a base sum.
The additional money is added on a per-project basis, he said.
Kritchman noted, for example, that the WZO had prepared the land for the new homes for former residents of the Migron outpost.
His division, he said, also helped prepare land for the Gaza evacuees.
The state comptroller as well as the WZO comptroller also examine the division’s budget, he said.
Earlier in April, Gal-On turned to Livni and asked that she impose the freedom of information act on the settlements division and to declare it a public institution.
She explained that the division had refused to hand over information on the grounds that the freedom of information act was not applicable, because it was not a public institution. The High Court of Justice upheld that decision.
Gal-On told Livni that since the settlements division managed most of the state land in the West Bank, it should be considered a public body.
Failure to apply the law, Gal-On said, damages the public’s right to know.
When contacted by The Jerusalem Post, the WZO settlements division referred the matter to the Prime Minister’s Office. The PMO declined to comment.
3 Israele, sussidi statali ad altre 20 colonie
She informed the Knesset Law Committee on Sunday of her intention to do so.
Meretz party head MK Zehava Gal-On had asked Livni to take this step after a number of entities, including nongovernmental group Yesh Din, had failed to receive information from the division, which since 1968 has been in charge of the initial development of West Bank settlements. This includes initial land preparation and infrastructure.
In the last decade it has also been involved in projects in the Negev and the Galilee.
Although the settlements division operates under the auspices of the WZO, it executes the direct orders of the Israeli government. Its funding comes from the Knesset-approved state budget.
Earlier this month, Gal-On raised questions about the division’s budget, which she noted was six times larger than the sum allocated by the Knesset.
In June she wrote a letter to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the Knesset’s legal adviser, Eyal Yinon, in which she asked them to limit budgetary transfers to the WZO settlements division.
In the letter, she explained that in 2011 the Knesset had allocated a NIS 62.35 million to the division. But its actual budget with additional monetary transfers grew to NIS 373.3m. Similarly, Gal-On wrote, in 2010 the division’s allocated budget was NIS 68.5m., but with monetary transfers it grew to NIS 231m.
Neither Netanyahu nor Yinon responded to her letter.
In response, WZO settlements division head Daniel Kritchman wrote to Gal-On that it was understood that the initial Knesset budget was only a base sum.
The additional money is added on a per-project basis, he said.
Kritchman noted, for example, that the WZO had prepared the land for the new homes for former residents of the Migron outpost.
His division, he said, also helped prepare land for the Gaza evacuees.
The state comptroller as well as the WZO comptroller also examine the division’s budget, he said.
Earlier in April, Gal-On turned to Livni and asked that she impose the freedom of information act on the settlements division and to declare it a public institution.
She explained that the division had refused to hand over information on the grounds that the freedom of information act was not applicable, because it was not a public institution. The High Court of Justice upheld that decision.
Gal-On told Livni that since the settlements division managed most of the state land in the West Bank, it should be considered a public body.
Failure to apply the law, Gal-On said, damages the public’s right to know.
When contacted by The Jerusalem Post, the WZO settlements division referred the matter to the Prime Minister’s Office. The PMO declined to comment.
3 Israele, sussidi statali ad altre 20 colonie
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