In response to a request by Modi'in Illit local council head
Rabbi Yaakov Gutterman, the government unanimously approved
including his town in a project to create jobs. The
government will thus provide funding toward the setup of call
support centers in the town.
The proposal was finalized by Industry and Commerce Minister
Ehud Olmert and brought before the government at the
initiative of Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, based on a
request by Rabbi Gutterman, who had lobbied the Finance
Ministry and the Industry and Commerce Ministry for a
prolonged period of time, sparing no effort to bring as many
jobs as possible to Modi'in Illit residents.
The call support centers are designed to provide information
services in areas such as government and urban hotlines,
medical services for hospitals, kupot cholim and
private clinics, as well as a variety of secretarial services
for customers around the country.
Rabbi Gutterman says such call centers require a lot of
manpower and will help ease the employment problem. The call
support centers will go into operation following a tender to
select a company that meets the government's requirements.
The winning vendor will receive government assistance in the
form of NIS 1,000 ($240) per worker per month. The decision
will allow many Modi'in Illit residents to find jobs inside
the town, particularly women who are sometimes the only wage
earners in their families.
In the past the government approved similar plans in several
other high-unemployment towns such as Carmiel, Acco, Dimona
and Ashkelon, and now the government has granted approval to
Modi'in Illit, Daliat al-Carmel and Osafiyeh. Be'er Sheva
also submitted a request but was rejected.
