Temporary Home
Temporary HomeIsrael News Photo: (file)

Almost four years after Israel "disengaged" from Gaza, evacuating over 8,000 Israelis from their homes, an official state committee begins its investigation on Sunday into the government’s handling of the evacuees ever since.

Prior to the August 2005 Disengagement in which Israel destroyed the 24 Jewish communities in the Gush Katif region of Gaza and northern Samaria, the government invested in a public relations campaign claiming there was a "solution for every settler." Almost every family found itself in temporary housing and/or hotel rooms, with the State Comptroller following up with two published reports stating that the state continues to fail to adequately provide for the evacuees.

In his first report, released in March 2006, State Comptroller Micha Lidenstrauss found that the Sela Authority, which was responsible for resettling the evacuees, had seriously failed to find permanent housing solutions for them.

This past January Lindenstrauss released a second report, stating that since his first report, “Three and a half years have passed, and unfortunately the state of affairs is still very difficult.”

The Comptroller said that of the 1,113 families waiting for permanent homes, only 605 had received plots of land. Of those, only 130 had begun construction, and a scarce 50 had completed a new home. The evacuees are dependent on the government at every step of the process towards building their new homes.

Jewish Home Knesset Member Zevulun Orlev spearheaded the Knesset initiative to establish an official state committee of inquiry into the handling of the evacuees. The committee, which is to be headed by retired judge Eliyahu Matza, is set to hold its first meeting Sunday in Jerusalem. 

The first witness to testify before the committee is the former head of the Sela Authority, Yonatan Bashi. The committee intends to publish its conclusions within a year.