On video: Commander of the Northern Command: "We are strengthening the readiness to go on an attack in Lebanon"/Photo: Report
The heads of the authorities in the north are losing patience.
For over two months now, they have been waiting for a budget and a plan to strengthen and restore the evacuated region of Israel, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised in his meeting with them in Khorezine.
Netanyahu then stated that within ten days NIS 3.5 billion will be transferred to implement a plan that will be formulated quickly, so that the residents can return home.
Since that statement nothing has happened.
No money, no plan, just political struggles that block the move and leave them angry.
Walla received the position paper compiled by the Confrontation Line Forum, with the agreement of the various government ministries, detailing their needs and demands from the state, in order to shorten processes and finally initiate the move that the Prime Minister promised them, when he appointed the Director General of the Ministry of the Interior, Ronen Peretz, to lead it together with the Director General of Finance, Shlomi Heisler, and the Director General of the Office of the Prime Minister, Yossi Shelli.
Peretz had already drawn up a draft and started working, but the Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, blocked the transfer of the budget and conditioned it on giving the responsibility for the rural area to the Minister of Settlements, Orit Strock The heads of the authorities are strongly opposed to Struck's guarantee in the program, fearing that the funds intended for the North will flow to YOSH, and Netanyahu decided to replace Peretz with Yossi Shelli, who wanted the position from the beginning - and since then nothing has moved.
The basic demand of the members of the Confrontation Line Forum in the position paper is the restoration of full security to the North.
At the same time, they demand that the government's decision designate a budget for the purpose of the program, along with instructions for changes to legislation, regulations, circulars from the CEOs of government ministries, at least 60% of the budget investments will be in the 2024 budget year and not be postponed. The immediate issues to be addressed: special security grant, property tax exemption for businesses and full indemnity of the authorities, because of the delays in compensation and the loss of income, similar to what was done in Corona. Compensation of a green route for businesses.
Rocket damage in Kiryat Shmona.
600 million shekels for urban renewal and the activation of a route for entrepreneurs/official website, Kiryat Shmona municipality spokeswoman
The heads of the authorities emphasize that the means for the evacuees to stay, hotels, housing units, and temporary residences, will be handled and budgeted separately from the plan for strengthening, rehabilitation and development of the north, as is the case in the south.
The budget of the faltering "Defense of the North" program, which was already passed in 2018 and was budgeted at NIS 5 billion, will also be approved as a completely separate amount from the program and in its entirety.
"In the 2024 budget," it says, "five times the budget given in the 2023 budget will be allocated. The Ministry of Finance will anchor the full necessary amount in the multi-year plan of the Ministry of Defense budget. A special security grant will be given to local authorities in the amount of NIS 200 million, which the Ministry of Finance will allocate to the Ministry The interior to finance expenses arising from the security situation and its consequences and another NIS 20 million emergency preparedness budget from the interior ministry.
Along with this, they want to deepen the tax benefits and the amendment of the income tax ordinance, to 30% for fenced residents and 20% for fenced residents (up to a ceiling of NIS 300,000).
Reducing property tax to 50%, also for businesses, and indemnifying the authorities.
Reducing the corporate tax to 4% in the confrontation line and applying an increased grant, in the investment promotion track, at the level of 30%.
Exemption from VAT for businesses at a moment's notice, and a reduction in corporate tax to 10%.
To encourage the return of residents, return grants will be given in the model and scope that can be given to the Gaza Strip, the provision of increased housing grants without a steep social economic index, the government subsidizing development expenses, the transfer of property on the lands free of charge.
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Fall in the north.
Significant reduction in income tax and property tax reduction by 50%/TPS, Erez Ben Simon
Tuition at day care centers on the conflict line will be subsidized regardless of parents' income, a budget of 70 million shekels will be transferred to protect educational institutions, 40 million shekels to increase study hours and reduce gaps created as a result of the war and evacuation.
50 million shekels will be allocated to emotional care for children, 70 million shekels to encourage teachers and teaching staff, 250 million shekels to establish centers of excellence and innovation, and 30 million shekels to strengthen the welfare budget and encourage attorneys in terms of wages and employment conditions.
The position paper presents a demand for 600 million shekels for renewal urban and operating a route for entrepreneurs, removing restrictions on the growth of the rural area, promoting cooperative transportation, a schedule for the implementation of the high-speed train to Kiryat Shmona and subsidizing the cost of travel on the section of road 6 to Shlomi.
Agriculture receives a significant chapter, which includes an aid track for the renewal and purchase of equipment for farmers, while determining an investment amount of up to NIS 2 million, with no threshold conditions.
All this with an investment of NIS 200 million from the Ministry of Agriculture's budget.
A dedicated training track in the field of agriculture with government subsidies and under the management of the Ministry of Labor, and the provision of grants to Israelis who will work in agriculture in the amount of NIS 50 million.
An investment of NIS 150 million in Agrotech, increasing the water quota and setting a maximum rate for agriculture and government support for the construction of chicken coops.
An interesting section concerns the authorities themselves, who wish to become entrepreneurs and build residential, commercial and industrial buildings and rent them out, and initiate partnerships with the private sector.
They also require an amount of 500 shekels per resident, for a basket of services for treatment and rehabilitation following the war, and another 300 million shekels for the construction of public institutions and development budgets.
In the days when Yossi Shelli's chair in the Office of the Prime Minister is swaying and he is on his way to becoming ambassador to one of Israel's missions in the world, the treatment of the North is at the bottom of his and the government's priorities. The residents, who have been evacuated for more than six months, no longer have time for ego and power games. They want to return home and feel Safe and cared for. Netanyahu promised them this minimum and now he must fulfill it.
More on the same topic:
the north
Kiryat Shmona
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Compensation
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property tax
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