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Opinion | In front of dear Tel Aviv, an opportunity for the periphery Israel today

2021-12-06T22:16:39.026Z


The strengthening of Beer Sheva, Karmiel, Ofakim and Maalot will create new Israeli centers • The move from the center to the periphery will no longer be a lack of choice, but a move that takes into account the great advantages that exist there.


Last week it became official - Tel Aviv is the most expensive city in the world.

According to the new Economist rating, the first Hebrew city overtook Paris, Singapore and New York on the way to the summit.

Another dubious Israeli record, a derivative of the cost of living we all feel.

This record is in good news, ostensibly, for the peripheries.

We are seeing more and more populations being pushed from the center towards Ashkelon, Kiryat Gat and Sderot, on the one hand, and Or Akiva, Yokneam and even Carmiel, on the other.

Reality bites.

But the truth is different.

Those who are pushed into the periphery choose one of two ways: to continue living in the center through employment, cultural consumption and identification in general, or to sink into the parameters of the periphery and dramatically reduce the life chances of their future generations.

Thus, instead of strengthening the peripheries, we find a weakening, the transformation of the development cities into Gush Dan's sleeping suburbs, and a significant increase in traffic jams and traffic congestion on Israeli roads, which jumped by 30 percent this year.

What will strengthen Gush Dan will not be a further deterioration of the peripheries, but rather their strengthening.

Quality competition on their part can lead to the flowering of Lod, Kiryat Malachi, Hadera and the north and we will collect from them.

In the Torah, such a flourishing will lower the cost of living in Tel Aviv, and thus act for the benefit of society as a whole.

So how do you do that? It can be done badly, in an attempt to "transplant" the center in the periphery. Take the Beersheba cyber project, for example. For years, former Prime Minister Netanyahu and the mayor spoke in unison: Beer Sheva is becoming a cyber power! The intentions were good, the implementation failed. A Knesset study revealed that NIS 624 million was invested in the project. At the end of the grant period, the branches were closed and the companies returned to the expensive center. In fact, only three percent of all high-tech companies in Israel are located in the Negev. Six percent in the north. In Gush Dan? 53 percent. The crazy cost of living in Tel Aviv.

And it can be done well.

Consistent investment in technological education in the periphery.

Assisting in the admission of young women and men to Israel's elite technological units.

The change in the situation in which the children of Netivot and Sderot receive a third of the relative representation in 8200, while Raanana and Hod Hasharon triple (!).

And of course, investing in startups in the periphery.

There are no shortcuts in this matter.

The strengthening of Beer Sheva, Karmiel, Ofakim and Maalot will create new Israeli centers.

The transition from the center to the periphery will no longer be a lack of choice, but a transition that takes into account the great advantages that are there.

In the 2011 protest, when the cry of young people in Tel Aviv skyrocketed, Netanyahu spoke of moving to Lod as an option.

He ignored the simple fact: housing prices are not everything.

Until there is adequate education, health, culture, employment and community infrastructure in the periphery, young people with the ability to cling to residential nails will try to live in the most expensive city in the world.

Who would deserve the title of "government of change"?

Only one that will care and advance effective and influential steps in the direction.

Were we wrong?

Fixed!

If you found an error in the article, we'll be happy for you to share it with us

Source: israelhayom

All news articles on 2021-12-06

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