Goldknopf Urges Netanyahu to Include Haredi Communities in West Bank Development Plans

United Torah Judaism chairman MK Yitzhak Goldknopf appealed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a demand to prevent what he called the exclusion of Haredi residents of Judea and Samaria from government development plans and benefits in the area.

Goldknopf sent the letter today to Netanyahu, on the eve of the festive cabinet meeting scheduled for tomorrow in Nof HaGalil, and demanded that what he described as the exclusion of Haredi residents of Judea and Samaria be stopped. In his remarks, he called for amending item B on the agenda, a proposal to establish "temporary sites in rural communities in Judea and Samaria," which, he said, does not include any reference to the Haredi public in the area.

He noted that of roughly half a million residents of Judea and Samaria, about 200,000 are Haredim, nearly half the population, and that Modi'in Illit and Beitar Illit are the largest urban centers in the region. "How is it possible that the budgets, development and benefits that reach the other communities never reach the Haredi population centers in Judea and Samaria?" he wrote.

According to him, "a very serious feeling is arising within the public that this exclusion is not accidental, and its purpose is to prevent support and benefits from a certain public." He stressed that the Haredi public is a full partner in developing settlement despite overcrowding and severe housing distress, and that it is "entitled to every benefit and assistance as a matter of right, not as a favor."

In his appeal, he asked Netanyahu to reconsider the item before approving it tomorrow, and to ensure that any plan, benefit or establishment of centers in the area also includes, on an equal basis, the Haredi local authorities and residents.