MK Danny Danon (Likud) said Thursday that the reports regarding a new government map of preferred development areas which grants benefits to communities in Judea and Samaria is no more than political 'spin.'
Speaking to Arutz Sheva's Hebrew service, Danon said: “I regret to say that there is no news here, this is just spin whose timing was not surprising, in advance of the demonstration [in Jerusalem against the freeze]. It was as if they attempted to tell the general public that there are benefits for the residents of Judea and Samaria, but the truth is that this map has existed for many years and it is updated every few years.”
The main news in the map regards Israel's Arab citizens, he stated. “After the High Court intervened, the national preference map was updated and it will now include about 40% of Israel's Arabs, unlike the previous map which only included 8% of the Arab residents.”
MK Danon said the benefits detailed in the map are not very meaningful in any case. “This is a map that is no longer effective. Half of the population of the state of Israel is included in this map. These are benefits that have existed for many years and they were even approved by leftist governments. What I demanded of the Prime Minister is that all of the communities in Judea and Samaria, which are suffering very greatly from the freeze, be included in the map, even if they do not conform to the financial criteria. The answer I got from him was that this would be impossible politically.”
Danon added that the Gush Katif expulsion victims must be included in the map. “People who were expelled from Gush Katif and now live in various places like Nitzan - their financial situation is bad. I call upon the Prime Minister to include them in the national preference map."