We live in a time of extreme and unusual population movement in Israel. The movement in the center of the country is motivated by the level of anxiety and access to the safe room, as well as the need for assistance from parents in raising children and calming the soul. And while public attention and attention are directed to the evacuees of the south and their future, the real danger is actually in the north.
For years, the frontier areas were characterized by negative immigration, which was evidence of the natives' choice not to raise their children there. These trends have been halted in recent years by the high cost of housing in the center, the construction of new neighborhoods in the northern frontier areas, and the work habits created by the coronavirus that enabled remote work.
The package deal offered by the residences in the border area is complex. The distance from employment, culture and commerce is balanced by community life, of which nature is a dominant part. To these is added the security price: constant vigilance and missiles. In recent years, the visibility of Hezbollah operatives dozens of meters from homes has increased the level of anxiety.
On 7 October, anxiety in the south became a reality. Residents of the northern border did not wait for government instructions: they got up and left their homes. What caused them such an extreme act? As the hours passed on 7 October and the magnitude of the disaster became clearer, the residents of the north revived old traumas and memories: the attack in Kiryat Shmona and the massacre in Ma'a lot (1974), the infiltration of a kindergarten in Misgav Am (1980), and the Night of the Surfers (1987). The present and the past have come together in their consciousness.
As the days tick by, the evacuation may become permanent – that's how I write to warn. In the north, there is growing concern that people will not return. Those who have found themselves an occupancy solution independently, under the auspices of friends, family or good people - are already beginning to look for an apartment. The children are already enrolled in a new education system. This is a very significant point – removing children from the education system is a critical point in strategic decision-making. The dam was breached.
The uprooting from the home and the fear of returning to it are a blow to the residents' main advantage: proximity to nature and community life. Once this advantage is taken away from them, living in the center of the country exposes them to the many advantages of living in the center: a friend has already told me, "Look at the schools they have here, and how we raise our children in the north," and this is just the beginning. Men, especially women who have reached a glass ceiling in the labor market in the north, are beginning to look for meaningful work in the center. At home, I hear my husband saying goodbye to a co-worker. Too bad, he tells her. We lost you. The powerful sociological groups, as usual, have a new opportunity here.
But all this is dwarfed by what is beginning to turn out to be the most powerful engine of immigration: anger. The residents of the north, especially the moshavim and kibbutzim on Mount and Matula, say again and again – we saw them with our own eyes: we saw their outposts, their surveillance, and the state does nothing. The North doesn't need spotters. The residents see everything from their window.
A friend has already told me, "Look at the schools they have here, and how we raise our children in the north," and this is just the beginning. Men, especially women who have reached a glass ceiling in the labor market in the north, are beginning to look for meaningful work in the center
A second focus of anger is the issue of protection. Residents of kibbutzim and moshavim on the border do not have safe rooms, and in some schools they are not protected. Protecting settlements such as Malkiya, Manara and Margaliot is pocket money in state terms.
These days, thousands of residents of the north have banded together and established the 1701 lobby. They include residents of the towns, along with residents of kibbutzim and moshavim. There are Jews among them and there are Arabs, including SLA members who have been living in the north since the evacuation of Lebanon by the IDF. This is a front that calls for a political solution (implementation of Resolution 1701) or a military solution. The citizens demand that the state stand behind its vision: to see frontier communities as part of the security concept. If this does not happen, we will witness a situation the likes of which we did not know – an entire region may be abandoned.
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