Copyright ynetnews
Three months after the government pledged more than 1 billion shekels for the rehabilitation of evacuated northern communities, the funds have yet to reach local authorities, leaving regional councils in financial crisis and halting key recovery projects. Officials in the north say they have already spent money based on government commitments, while major reconstruction and development initiatives remain frozen with no timeline for when the funds will arrive. Only after Ynet contacted Knesset Finance Committee Chairman Hanoch Milwidsky and Minister for Regional Directorates Ze’ev Elkin did government officials move to advance part of the allocations. According to officials, more than 1 billion shekels in funding is expected to go before the Finance Committee early next week. The long-delayed aid plan for northern border communities — a region that local leaders say has suffered years of neglect — has faced repeated postponements. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had promised to approve development and rehabilitation plans in meetings with northern mayors along the frontier with Lebanon, but political and bureaucratic hurdles pushed back implementation. Even after the government formally approved the plans earlier this year, the funds remain stalled. “The government has time, but the north continues to wither,” one local official said. A region still waiting In the evacuated communities, where only about 80 percent of residents have returned, local authorities are waiting for the government to deliver on a 12-billion-shekel plan to rebuild and develop towns and kibbutzim within nine kilometers of the Lebanese border. The plan includes urgent aid for rebuilding and resettlement, economic recovery programs, education system development, and completion of the third stage of restoring public and community facilities — budgeted at about 400 million shekels. Since July, those funds have been awaiting final approval from the Finance Committee. Political sources say the delay stems from a dispute between Milwidsky and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich over some 500 million shekels in funding for student transportation in regional councils. Milwidsky denied that the political standoff caused the delay, saying it resulted from legal clarifications requested by the Finance Ministry’s Budget Department. “After my discussions with the Budget Department and the committee chair, the issues were resolved, and the 1.2 billion shekels for the north will go to the committee for approval on Monday,” he said. Mounting frustration Local officials expressed anger at what they called political maneuvering at the expense of border communities. “It’s a slap in the face from those who promised to support returning residents, and instead we get internal politics,” said Moshe Davidovich, head of the Mateh Asher Regional Council and chairman of the Forum of Frontline Communities. “They can fight among themselves, but right now the Gaza Envelope and the Lebanese border should be off-limits. This is a slap in the face to the citizens who serve as the country’s human shield.” Among the projects awaiting approval are the construction of temporary housing for returning residents, land development subsidies, the establishment of tactical security units in Kiryat Shmona and Shlomi, and salary payments for community managers and development coordinators — many of whom have not been paid since September. Municipalities in the north have already spent millions of shekels on emergency repairs to infrastructure and public buildings, relying on government promises that have not been fulfilled. “This government simply doesn’t function,” said Metula Mayor David Azoulay. “Aside from a few ministers who have helped, I’ve received nothing. I’m supposed to get nearly 30 million shekels for rehabilitation, and I haven’t received a single shekel.” Azoulay added that “rehabilitation of the north has become an empty slogan. Instead of comprehensive, long-term planning, we get small slices of funding every few months. That’s politics, not recovery.” Security still uncertain The government also promised to establish tactical security units to protect Kiryat Shmona and Shlomi, with tens of millions of shekels allocated for that purpose. So far, no funds have been transferred. “I told worried residents that the government would establish armed units to provide local security so we wouldn’t have to wait for the army to arrive,” said Kiryat Shmona Mayor Avihai Stern. “But Hezbollah hasn’t disarmed, and its threat to seize the Galilee remains. Residents see Hezbollah flags across the border, but not the promised security forces.” The Finance Committee is expected to approve more than 1 billion shekels in funding on Monday — only part of the amount the government pledged for 2025. Local officials fear that if the money is not distributed by the end of the fiscal year, it will be canceled and returned to the Treasury. “We could lose a significant part of the plans we’ve worked on for months,” Davidovich warned. “We will not accept that under any circumstances.”
