Gaza Belt residents called on President Shimon Peres during his tour of the region Monday to use his political muscle to "turn the project of structural reinforcement into a national project" and ensure that funds are handed over to the regional and local councils.
"The money is not being transferred," said Eshkol Regional Council Chairman Chaim Yellin during a meeting between Peres and Council chairmen from the south.
Peres told the group that he had discussed the matter with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and had suggested that both the money and responsibility for the project be handed over to the regional councils themselves "so that they might build the security rooms."
He added that Olmert had not rejected the idea, and that he and the prime minister would discuss the matter again, "with the relevant ministers" in order to promote the issue.
The council chairman said NIS 500 million is needed in order to complete the construction of the secure units, adding that this required Peres's immediate intervention.
'Do you know what peace is?'
President Peres also visited a kindergarten at Kibbutz Nir Oz, where 51-year-old Amnon Rozenberg was killed in a mortar attack by Palestinian Authority terrorists from Gaza earlier this month.
The children shared with him their fears and personal stories about the firing of the missiles, according to an account released to the media by the President's spokesperson.
According to the account, "The President asked the children if they know what peace was and if they had a solution for the firing of missiles, and told them that he and the entire country were proud of them for their courage in the face of the missiles and the security threats."
Monday evening, a Kassam rocket slammed into an area on the outskirts of Sderot. Several hours earlier, one person sustained moderate shrapnel wounds in the neck in a Grad missile attack on the nearby port city of Ashkelon. A number of people were treated for severe anxiety and emotional shock.
Vilnai Scoffs at Gaza Belt Complaints
Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai scoffed at Gaza Belt residents' complaints about the way the government is dealing with the incessant rocket and mortar attacks on their communities Monday during a session of the Knesset plenum.
"We, here in Jerusalem, suffered hundreds of casualties, hundreds. You know that very well," he said. "In bus bombings and other maniacs trying to hit Israel at its very core, in our Jerusalem. Did we ever complain about not sleeping at night? Or that we cannot do anything? Or that we have been deserted? Have I ever contemplated anything of the kind as a Jerusalemite?" he demanded during the meeting.
Vilnai later apologized for the remarks, saying in a statement "there was no intention of offending the residents of the Gaza vicinity and Sderot. The State of Israel has spent years dealing with terror attacks and is at the front. The State of Israel is strengthening the resistance of Sderot and Gaza vicinity residents, who must deal with a complex and difficult daily reality. The status of the south does not have a magical solution and the State of Israel is responsible for doing everything possible in order to bring on days of calm," he stated.