With rumors that the Olmert government is considering another withdrawal involving the expulsion of several tens of thousands of Jews, the spiraling costs of relocating fewer than 9,000 Jews from Gush Katif and northern Shomron might be of interest.
The national budget for 2005 allocated 1.5 billion shekels for the unilateral withdrawal from Gush Katif and northern Shomron. Just a few weeks later, the Israeli Institute for Democracy estimated the final cost at nearly six billion shekels, while then-Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu - straddling the fence between opposition to the Disengagement and support for his government - predicted that it would end up costing "between 8 and 10 billion shekels."
The first unforeseen costs came when the Supreme Court ordered some 300 million shekels' worth of improvements in the Evacuation/Compensation Law. By the end of 2005, with over 600 uprooted families still living in hotels, costs had skyrocketed by additional tens of millions of shekels.
Another billion or billion and a half shekels are expected to be added when MKs Uri Ariel (National Union) and Avigdor Yitzchaki (Kadima) complete their work on a legislative bill to improve the terms of the current Evacuation/Compensation Law. Among the changes that are likely to be legislated involve assessments of Gush Katif property, civil suits, younger Gush Katif residents who are now beginning to marry and start their own homes, and more.
In particular, after the government sent assessors to evaluate the properties of the Gush Katif residents, it sent them a second time. Curiously or not, the second assessment was lower in every case than the first one - and in every case, the Disengagement Authority accepted the second one.
Atty. Yossi Fuchs of the Land of Israel Legal Forum, representing many of the Gush Katif families, says he plans to file a joint suit on their behalf, demanding between 200,000 and 500,000 shekels each. "But that's not all," he told the Makor Rishon newspaper. "There are another 40 cases, representing another 150 million shekels in additional payments. The State simply doesn't know what's in store for it... So far, I have not lost one appeal against the Disengagement Authority."
Fuchs estimates that the final costs of the Disengagement will cost the State 20 billion shekels.
The uprooted residents say that of 2,100 employed people on the eve of the expulsion, some 45% are still now unemployed - and among those who are employed, the situation is worse than it was. "People had to compromise," said Chairman Lior Kalfa of the Gush Katif Residents Committee. "After they sat at home for 3-4 months doing nothing - and everyone knows how bad that is - many of them decided to go to work even though they would take a 40% cut in their salaries."
But many of them cannot even find jobs even when they look for one, especially those over age 50. Despite this, the Evacuation/Compensation Law currently stipulates that they will receive their pensions only after age 55. MKs Ariel and Yitzchaki are hoping to change this to age 44 in their new legislative bill.
Another proposed change concerns the rate of 66% that self-employed workers received on their earnings. For this and other reasons, only 99 out of 213 self-employed Gush Katif residents have re-opened their businesses - and only a minority of them are back on their previous earnings track.
The situation in agriculture is even worse: Only 33 out of 400 registered farmers have returned to their profession.
The national budget for 2005 allocated 1.5 billion shekels for the unilateral withdrawal from Gush Katif and northern Shomron. Just a few weeks later, the Israeli Institute for Democracy estimated the final cost at nearly six billion shekels, while then-Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu - straddling the fence between opposition to the Disengagement and support for his government - predicted that it would end up costing "between 8 and 10 billion shekels."
The first unforeseen costs came when the Supreme Court ordered some 300 million shekels' worth of improvements in the Evacuation/Compensation Law. By the end of 2005, with over 600 uprooted families still living in hotels, costs had skyrocketed by additional tens of millions of shekels.
Another billion or billion and a half shekels are expected to be added when MKs Uri Ariel (National Union) and Avigdor Yitzchaki (Kadima) complete their work on a legislative bill to improve the terms of the current Evacuation/Compensation Law. Among the changes that are likely to be legislated involve assessments of Gush Katif property, civil suits, younger Gush Katif residents who are now beginning to marry and start their own homes, and more.
In particular, after the government sent assessors to evaluate the properties of the Gush Katif residents, it sent them a second time. Curiously or not, the second assessment was lower in every case than the first one - and in every case, the Disengagement Authority accepted the second one.
Atty. Yossi Fuchs of the Land of Israel Legal Forum, representing many of the Gush Katif families, says he plans to file a joint suit on their behalf, demanding between 200,000 and 500,000 shekels each. "But that's not all," he told the Makor Rishon newspaper. "There are another 40 cases, representing another 150 million shekels in additional payments. The State simply doesn't know what's in store for it... So far, I have not lost one appeal against the Disengagement Authority."
Fuchs estimates that the final costs of the Disengagement will cost the State 20 billion shekels.
The uprooted residents say that of 2,100 employed people on the eve of the expulsion, some 45% are still now unemployed - and among those who are employed, the situation is worse than it was. "People had to compromise," said Chairman Lior Kalfa of the Gush Katif Residents Committee. "After they sat at home for 3-4 months doing nothing - and everyone knows how bad that is - many of them decided to go to work even though they would take a 40% cut in their salaries."
But many of them cannot even find jobs even when they look for one, especially those over age 50. Despite this, the Evacuation/Compensation Law currently stipulates that they will receive their pensions only after age 55. MKs Ariel and Yitzchaki are hoping to change this to age 44 in their new legislative bill.
Another proposed change concerns the rate of 66% that self-employed workers received on their earnings. For this and other reasons, only 99 out of 213 self-employed Gush Katif residents have re-opened their businesses - and only a minority of them are back on their previous earnings track.
The situation in agriculture is even worse: Only 33 out of 400 registered farmers have returned to their profession.