Government to Fund Daily Food and Clothing for Hilltop Youth in West Bank

As part of a government plan to curb violence in Judea and Samaria through educational measures, the state will fund food and clothing for teenagers living in outposts and hilltops at a rate of 50 shekels per day per youth. The information came from a document by the Ministry of Settlement and National Missions, headed by Minister Orit Strock, which will transfer the funds to regional councils.

The program will last about seven months, from June through the end of the year, and the food-and-clothing budget totals about 5.5 million shekels. It covers 657 teenagers spread across the area, including 225 in Mateh Binyamin, 129 in Samaria, 120 in the Jordan Valley, 99 in Mount Hebron and 84 in Gush Etzion.

The food and clothing are only a small part of a wider government initiative worth nearly 120 million shekels aimed at addressing youth violence in the outposts and hilltops. Several ministries are involved, including Defense, Education, Labor, and Strock’s ministry, which is also financing social workers for the teens and their families, liaison coordinators between the outposts and local authorities, and other support.

Defense and Education are funding programs to encourage enlistment and prevent dropout, while the Labor Ministry will pay for employment integration efforts. A Defense Ministry project officer was appointed a year ago to handle the issue, but the coordinated program has still not begun because the money has not yet been transferred from the Finance Ministry to the relevant ministries and local authorities, even though it was approved in early May.

The plan has drawn criticism from security officials, who say the government is putting too much into educational and emotional support and not enough into criminal enforcement. Last month, Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Blot warned, “We are one step away from a serious disaster,” and said the violence is “illegal, immoral, and I allow myself to say, not Jewish.” Government officials argue the program is meant for youths outside the core violent group, which they say should be handled through criminal law, and that the goal is to preserve the hilltop enterprise and prevent a slide into violence. Meanwhile, violence in Judea and Samaria continues, including a recent attack by masked Jews in Hawara that left Palestinians injured and property damaged, with police arresting two suspects in their 30s.