Gov't to speed up approvals for new communities for Gush Katif expellees... A new medical center to be built in "appreciation" for absorption efforts... Rockets and unrest continue in Gaza... More...

  • The government's ministerial committee decided Sunday to shorten planning procedures for the new communities slated to be built for the Gush Katif expellees.

    Two and a quarter years after the Disengagement/expulsion, and nearly four years after the idea of the unilateral withdrawal from Jewish Gaza and northern Shomron was first publicly declared by then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the government has now taken active notice of the floundering situation of the thousands of displaced residents.   

    The ministerial committee voted to adopt the legislative proposal of Kadima MK Ze'ev Elkin, who explained that it is "designed to shorten the planning process, within the framework of the Construction and Zoning Law, just as was done in the 90's when a million new immigrants arrived from the former Soviet Union."

    Sixty-three MKs, out of 120, are signed on the legislation.

  • Infrastructures Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, a leading Labor Party minister during the Disengagement, now says the withdrawal was a major mistake.  He has been called upon to resign. 



    Ben-Eliezer said last week, and repeated since then, "I admit and confess: I pushed Sharon to disengage, and we made a mistake and we erred.  The disengagement set a precedent: Territory from which you withdraw becomes a terrorist base, period." 



    The World Task Force for the Nation and the Land has issued a statement saying Ben-Eliezer must go further: "For his role in this grave mistake that has so shaken Israel's security, he cannot merely say he erred. He must draw the indicated personal conclusion and resign immediately, together with all the others who had a role in the Disengagement."

  • Up to five Kassam rockets were fired from Gaza at Sderot and environs Monday morning; no one was hurt. 

  • One Arab was killed in an exchange of fire in Gaza between Hamas and Fatah terrorists, during a memorial ceremony for Yasser Arafat.  Arafat died three years ago this week.

  • The former Gush Katif residents will field their own candidate in the elections for Chairman of the Ashkelon Coast Regional Council.  Two candidates - Eliezer Ben-Yaakov of the former Gush Katif town of Gan-Or, and Lior Kalfa, the former head of the N'vei Dekalim secretariat - realized that only one of them should run in order not to dilute the Gush Katif voting power.  In a run-off held this week in Nitzan, where the largest concentration of Gush Katif expellees now lives, Ben-Yaakov was narrowly chosen; Kalfa arrived at Ben-Yaakov's home shortly after the results became known to wish him success.  The elections, together with those in many other Regional Councils across the country, are set for November 27. 

  • Efforts to find work for ex-Gush Katif residents continue.  A new job-finding workshop has been opened, with the help of JobKatif, in Nitzan, and will be held every Tuesday morning for the coming six weeks.  An emphasis is to be placed on intensive job hunting and direct contact between the prospective employee and the job market.  Personal meetings will also be held with each participant according to his or her specific needs.  Sessions will be held on specific job market needs, preparing resumes and for interviews, looking 'out of the box,' and more.

  • The cornerstone for a new, advanced emergency medical center will be laid today (Monday) in the Eshkol Regional Council, on the Gaza border - donated in appreciation of the residents' efforts in helping absorb the Gush Katif expellees.  Dr. Iving Moskowitz of Miami has donated six million shekels ($1.5 million) towards its establishment, in appreciation of the successful absorption of residents from Netzarim and Atzmona in two new towns, Yated and Yevul.

    The new medical center, which is scheduled to be completed in eight months, will be built in Tzochar, one of the small Eshkol towns between Gaza and the Negev's desolate Halutza Sands. 

    The Hatzalah Yehuda & Shomron medical organization will accompany the construction of the center, which is set to be one of the most advanced medical centers in the peripheral areas of Israel.  It will include a Magen David Adom station, a hydrotherapy clinic, and on-call night services.  Local residents will no longer have to travel to the hospitals in Be'er Sheva or Ashkelon for emergency treatment.