Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich ordered the immediate transfer of NIS 50 million from the Civil Administration budget to correct cellular coverage gaps in Judea and Samaria.
Security officials and the Civil Administration agree that the fact that there are absorption gaps in Judea and Samaria, in some cases precisely in the most threatened areas, amounts to a risk to human life. Poor cellular coverage in Judea and Samaria has been a longstanding problem. There are highly threatened areas, where there have been serious attacks in the past, where there is no cellular reception at all, and therefore during a serious security incident it is not possible to call for help.
Many places suffer
In the past year, two masts were installed in the Binyamin and Samaria areas, which dramatically improved cellular reception on roads relevant to them, but there are still many places that suffer from the problem. Now, with tensions in Judea and Samaria increasing due to the war in Gaza and terrorists seeking to carry out serious attacks, Minister Smotrich decided to allocate tens of millions to fix the problem immediately.
Now the professionals will be able to set up masts quickly to solve the gaps in cellular coverage. In a letter obtained by Israel Hayom, Smotrich noted that this is a critical issue, and therefore both the Ministry of Communications and a communications staff officer in the Civil Administration seek to solve the problem immediately.
"In Judea and Samaria there are very significant coverage gaps, which, in the opinion of security officials, amount to endangering human life. After examining the matters, and taking into account the sensitive security situation in Judea and Samaria, I instruct that the project be budgeted out of the fund's budget in the amount of NIS 50 million," the minister said.
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