Deputy Welfare Minister MK Avrohom Ravitz said on Monday that
the government did not do enough for the spiritual needs of
the Gush Katif evacuees in their new places of residence.
"Although the government saw to the physical conditions," he
said, "in matters of spiritual assistance, such as botei
knesses, the evacuees were left empty-handed."
To address the matter Ilan Cohen, the director of the Prime
Minister's Office, met with Netzarim evacuees currently
staying in Ariel. The Prime Minister's Office views the
settlers' show of cooperation as a breakthrough after several
months during which they refused to meet with State
representatives to discuss housing solutions. At this stage
it appears that a settlement will be set up in the Western
Negev for former Netzarim residents. Until then they will
live in Yevul.
Cohen toured the Eshkol Local Council on Monday, where he met
for the first time since the evacuation with the residents of
Netzarim and Atzmona. During the course of the meeting the
evacuees said that they would like to reside in the Negev on
a permanent basis. Cohen told them that 80 percent of the
former Gush Katif residents would be relocated to a cluster
of settlements to be built in the Central and Western
Negev.
Yonatan Bassi, the head of the SELA authority, said SELA is
currently handling three large housing areas for the Gaza
evacuees along the coast near Nitzanim and Ashkelon: Nitzan,
Nitzanim and part of Ashkelon's Golf neighborhood. Nitzan and
Golf are within Ashkelon's municipal boundaries, whereas
Nitzanim is part of the adjacent Ashkelon Coast Council. He
predicts that each of these sites will remain part of their
current jurisdictions and will not be gerrymandered to form a
new local council. Bassi says that half of Gaza's former
Jewish residents—3,500-4,000 people—will be
relocated to this area, which is not enough to unite them as
a separate local council.
Near Nitzan is the temporary housing site for 450 families
living in prefab, single-family homes (caravillas). Although
the land belongs to the State and numerous infrastructures
have already been installed, the State plans to clear the
site within two years. Bassi says a permanent settlement
cannot be built there because of its proximity to the
railroad tracks.
