Tourism Minister Uzi Landau (Yisrael Beytenu) has asked Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to make the area near Gaza a VAT-free zone, like Eilat, for one year.
In a letter addressed to Netanyahu, as well as to Economy Minister Naftali Bennett and Finance Minister Yair Lapid, he noted that “while the Security Cabinet runs the military campaign, there is great importance to the social and economic front – this is our moral responsibility to the residents of the south.”
Landau suggested that the VAT exemption status be conferred on residents and businesses of the region within 40 kilometers of Gaza.
"All Israeli citizens who make a moral decision to reside and settle along Israel's borders must know that the government of Israel stands beside them, and maintains their economic strength and vitality,” he added.
"At this moment, in particular, we must also advance the economic campaign, and not wait util the fighting is over. The residents of the south and the Gaza Belt deserve the economic aid and the support that the Israeli government can give them.”