In the video: Netanyahu with the heads of authorities in the north promises to restore security there as well/photo: L.A.M
First publication: This is the plan that will be presented today in the Prime Minister's Office to the heads of the authorities in the North. Read the full program.
The meeting of the leaders of the Forum of the Line of Conflict in the North, with the Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Yossi Shelley, in which he is to present to them the draft plan for the strengthening and rehabilitation of the North, is scheduled to take place today at noon in Nazareth.
The head of the Matula Council, David Azoulai, and the head of the Upper Galilee Council, Giora Zaltz, are boycotting the meeting, against the background of the government's failure to deal with the north, when about 80,000 of its residents have been evacuated from their homes for six months.
The heads of the Confrontation Line Forum who will be at the meeting, were surprised to hear that all the northern authorities were invited to it, even those not included in the plan, apparently because of the early fear that some members of the forum would boycott it and the desire to spread in the media an image with many participants at its conclusion.
Some of the heads of the authorities received calls this morning from the Office of the Prime Minister, to confirm their arrival, and to tell them that yesterday, after the meeting that took place at the Ministry of Finance, in the presence of Minister Bezalel Smotrich, the lights were on there until five o'clock in the morning, in order to improve the draft, which had already received severe criticism from The authorities.
The heads of the authorities resent the fact that it includes, among other things, the establishment of five new settlements, while the existing settlements are unable to stand on their feet, and the fact that it was formulated without sharing with them, so that today they will see it for the first time.
They were also told by phone that the Minister of Finance approved three more One billion shekels for the program, which on the face of it sounds absurd, since there are no additional funds for the program at all, and there is certainly no budgetary source for another three billion shekels.
During the meeting that took place yesterday at the Treasury, which lasted three hours, Smotrich apologized to the members of the Confrontation Line Forum for handling the program for the North, which received the new name "Zifuna", was delayed for so long.
During the meeting, there were difficult exchanges between the Minister of Finance and the heads of the authorities, who hurled harsh words at him, for pulling them by the nose for so long and giving them promises without cover. "What is happening With the treatment of the residents of the north, it's a disgrace," says Lavala, one of the heads of the authorities. "The initial draft that was drawn up will not go through with us. The Minister of Finance assured us that this plan must be agreed upon by us as well, and this will be written as a clause in it, otherwise it will not be implemented."