State Land in the Periphery Could Become a Gold Mine, Generating Tens of Millions of Shekels a Year
A solar field, illustration, Maariv, Itamar Greenberg
The Knesset plenum on Tuesday approved in its first reading a bill on allocating land to local authorities for the establishment of solar energy facilities, initiated by MK Moshe Saada together with Mitzpe Ramon local council head Aliya Winter.
According to the sponsors, the purpose of the law is to enable land allocations for the establishment of solar energy facilities in the periphery, in a way that would allow local authorities to generate income of up to 30 million shekels a year. The bill’s initiator, MK Moshe Saada, said, "This is a significant, values-driven law that will give municipalities and councils in the periphery resources to advance education, the economy and culture in their communities." He stressed that "the law will correct a historical injustice that has been inflicted on the residents of the periphery for years and will be a significant step in narrowing the social and economic gaps that currently exist between the center and the periphery."
Supporters of the law also said that the revenues from electricity production would be directed to the local authorities and would provide a significant budgetary addition for periphery communities. "The local authority will profit from this directly, and at the same time will benefit from energy independence that will strengthen its economic and infrastructural resilience in the long term," they said.
The bill’s initiators are now working to move it quickly to the Knesset Interior Committee for preparation for second and third readings, and to advance legislation before the Knesset is dissolved.
Mitzpe Ramon local council head Aliya Winter said, "This is an important bill that will allow economic and energy independence for the authorities in the periphery. Until now, the profit from electricity production through solar energy facilities went to entrepreneurs, and with the bill we are changing the rules of the game and the dependence of the authorities in the periphery on the central government. For the first time, we are creating a safe economic factor and economic and energy independence for the authorities in the periphery of the State of Israel."
Winter added, "I am proud of the move that I worked on extensively together with my fellow bill sponsors, MK Moshe Saada, MK Shasón Guetta and the chairman of the Knesset Interior Committee, MK Yitzhak Kroizer. I want to thank MK Avigdor Liberman and all the factions of the House, including the opposition factions, for their support of the law, as well as MK Ofir Katz for his contribution to bringing the bill to a plenum vote yesterday," he concluded.
