In video: Nir Oz residents arrive at their temporary home in Kiryat Gat/Yotam Ronan
The consequences of Black Sabbath on October 7 in the southern settlements that led to the evacuation of the settlements, an evacuation that also extended to the north in light of Hezbollah's entry into the campaign, can cause dramatic changes in the various communities.
One of the main manifestations may be manifested in families leaving their place of residence and moving to new places.
"The waves of this event are much bigger than you think and among other things this is reflected in the fact that you have to create stability for your family and it will come to a situation where families will settle in new settlements," predicts Yifat Schreiber-Leventhal from Kibbutz Kfar Giladi who says that many of the evacuees are in a state of distress a question.
Residents of Kiryat Shmona evacuate their homes at the beginning of the war/Flash 90, Eyal Margolin
She was born and raised in Kfar Giladi and five years ago returned to the kibbutz with her husband and daughters.
Schreiber-Lewenthal is also responsible for the area of demographic growth in Kfar Giladi and she hears the voices coming from the area.
"We have started the process of accepting new families who will set up their homes in a new neighborhood. I have already heard of one family who is considering staying in the Jordan Valley, where we moved," she tells Walla!.
"There are also families who have moved to the center and say the same thing. Someone told me that her daughter said she did not want to return to the north. The children are acclimating to new settings and after four months can we stop for a moment and think about what's next? At first people didn't bother with these questions, but now comes a moment when they say: 'Let's re-examine everything'. If a new situation has already been imposed on us, now is the time to re-examine everything."
Schreiber-Lewenthal describes the parameters that now enter into the considerations of the evacuated families.
"We are now asking where there are better health and education systems. People will make comparisons and maybe say: 'True, in the green Galilee, it is quiet, peaceful and has a good atmosphere, but there are other places that also have good things to offer us," she wonders.
"There is also the constant question of how much longer we will live in a situation that is defined as 'temporary'. People cannot freeze their lives and remain in an uncertain situation and want to find security and stability. Right now we don't have that and it shows in a lot of things."
Among the things that the resident of Kfar Giladi describes is the situation of the youth.
"They are getting lost. They have left the frameworks they were in. Who sees them? Who asks how they are doing? When will they go back to studying in a normal and not restricted schedule?".
The secret?
rowing swimming
How to look and feel great, live healthy and lose weight?
In collaboration with TI SWIM
Students from the north study in Tel Aviv/Reuven Castro
Neighboring kibbutzim and moshavim also face similar questions.
Ofer "Poshko" Moskovitch said that the "The day after" team has already been established.
Even in Meshgav there are families who were in the absorption process and are now considering whether to leave it.
"Suddenly people stop and say - 'Let's try a new place, a different area,'" Moskovitz explains.
"The time of returning home is also of great importance. The longer it lasts, the more it will affect people's decisions. For example - if the students do not start the next school year in our schools in the Galilee, it can have an effect on families' decisions about their future."
In the days after the evacuation, about 60 percent of the residents of Mashgav moved to the Selina Hotel near the Sea of Galilee.
Now 40 percent of the residents of the kibbutz remain in the hotel and the dispersal of the community also has significance in the shaping of the social framework in the day after the war. Despite this, "Poshko" remains optimistic.
"I believe we will return, but there are also forecasts that say it won't happen before 2025."
Residents of Nir Oz arrive at their temporary home in Kiryat Gat/Avi Rokah
Also in the Gaza Envelope there is a fear that some of the residents who did not move with the communities to the temporary residences will not return to the kibbutzim.
One of them is Sinai Gez, a resident of Netiv Hatara, who believes that there is a fear for the strength of the community and he demands a temporary solution outside the Gaza Strip.
"We want to keep our community, so we want to move as one stick to community life in the village, and this time, outside the disaster area," he implores.
"The state can and must allow us this. We need certainty and security. We don't know how long the war will last and what the day after will look like, but between October 7 and the restoration of full security in the region, we need to sustain life, restore ourselves and return to routine and the best way to This is by saving the community, preserving it, restoring it and thriving together in a safe rural space, outside the disaster area, outside the envelope. This will allow us to gather strength, restore the families and strengthen our communal heart that has been brutally damaged. This is the order of the hour, this is what that the state and the Takuma administration have to deal with it day and night."
In the kibbutzim there are also residents who do not intend to leave the hotels for temporary residence together with the other kibbutz residents and according to one of the residents from Kisifov, the temporary move will also cause some of them not to return to the kibbutz either.
"There was a procedure of round tables with us asking what we want," explained one of the residents.
"We wanted to move to another kibbutz and in the end it was decided to go to an urban settlement. I am not ready to wait for urban settlements. Our temporary residence should be in a kibbutz so that we remain a strong community and preserve the way of life in the kibbutz."
Residents of Nir Oz arrive at their temporary home in Kiryat Gat January 2, 2024/Avi Rokah
The resident explains that the move to a settlement that is not a kibbutz has already hurt the community.
"There are quite a few families who have left the hotel and rent apartments independently," she says.
"In the end, those who do not move under the agreement of the Takuma administration to the urban settlement will probably not return to the settlements. This dispersion will also cause a disconnection between the members of the kibbutz community. We demand that the Takuma administration also take care of the people and families who will not be transferred under the kibbutz agreement. It is impossible for residents to find themselves without an answer and without a solution for temporary housing."
The Takuma administration says that more than 80% of the residents of the four kibbutzim who have already signed the agreements will move to the temporary residences.
They also intend to take care of any resident who will move privately to another place of residence.
More on the same topic:
Gaza Envelope
Upper Galilee
evacuation
Lebanon border
Gaza war
War of Iron Swords
kibbutzim