HaYarkon Park in Tel Aviv was all abuzz Wednesday night following the Shavuot (Festival of Weeks) holiday as construction workers rapidly raised tents, installed floors and made other preparations for receiving a thousand Sderot residents set to arrive Thursday at noon.
Russian-born Israeli billionaire Arcadi Gaydamak is behind the project that is meant to give Sderot refugees, fleeing the constant rocket fire from Gaza, a place to go until it is safe to return to the besieged town.
The mega-businessman is keeping a promise he made to Sderot residents that he would pay to build a tent city for those families who wanted to leave. His original plan to build the project in Jerusalem, where he intends to run for mayor in the next election, was rethought after the city refused to grant a permit to build the city in the capital's centrally located Gan Sachar park - offering Gan Tzipori, at the outskirts of the city, instead.
The city of Tel Aviv agreed to the plan, despite a request by the Prime Minister's Office to reject it.
Despite numerous reassurances by the government that the public buildings, schools and homes in Sderot would be fortified against Kassam rockets, nothing has been done. There are not enough bomb shelters, say the residents, and many that exist are inadequate. Some are in poor condition, they say, and others are completely uninhabitable.
Plans for the tent city include showers and other personal hygiene facilities, tents with floors and partitions for individual families, as well as an entertainment stage, a dining room, activity areas, a kindergarten and a play area for small children. Families will also be given free passes to nearby water parks and attractions.
“It took us a couple of days to understand that the families needed their privacy,” said project director David Nitzani commenting on the lessons learned in building the tent city in Nitzanim for northern refugees fleeing Katyusha fire during the Second Lebanon War. “Here, we are building a separate room for each family so that they feel comfortable.”
Nitzani also produced the billionaire’s mammoth Independence Day party earlier this month.
The Sderot Municipality has stationed municipal workers to compile the names of those residents seeking to move to the tent cities.
Mr. Nitzani said that arrangements will also be made to accommodate other families who decide they need to leave Sderot for any length of time during the conflict. “If there is demand for more rooms, we will take over hotels in Tel Aviv,” he said.
“There is no time limit” imposed on the families who will stay in HaYarkon Park, he added. Families who were taken to hotels for a temporary respite last week had been asked to return to Sderot after two days. “The tent city will stay as long as it is needed,” said Mr. Nitzani.
Full-Page Ad Gives AG Ultimatum
Gaydamak, who claims that police and the media have colluded to circulate rumors of fiscal impropriety, published a full-page ad in many of Israel’s daily papers Thursday calling upon the Attorney General Menachem Mazuz to either prosecute him or clear his name. "Mr. Mazuz, it's time for you to decide,” the ad reads. "Act resolutely to decide whether to close the seemingly endless investigation against me, or to present an indictment, which would provide me with a legal framework through which to prove my innocence."
The ad implied a conspiracy to stem Gaydamak’s popularity and growing political clout. "This campaign is run by businessmen and other people with personal motivations and as part of it seniors in the justice ministry and police are incited against me," it reads.
It ends with an ultimatum: "I request that you reach a decision as soon as possible and in a timeframe no longer than four weeks. With respect, Arcadi Gaydamak."