Interior Minister Aryeh Deri (Shas) toured the site designated for a new haredi town in southern Israel on Thursday, along with Deputy Interior Minister Meshulam Nahari, Deputy Finance Minister Yitzhak Cohen, United Torah Judaism MKs Yaakov Asher and Menachem Eliezer Mozes, National Housing Council chief and former Kadima MK Avigdor Yitzhaki, and local council chief Asher Aberjel.
The new town, which is as of yet unnamed, will be located in the Shafir Regional Council in the Kiryat Malachi area. More than 9,000 housing units are already planned for the town.
With the housing crisis in Israel particularly acute in the haredi community, Deri said he was looking to fast-track the establishment of the new town.
“I intend to accelerate in every way the establishment [of the new town]. After the [Passover] holiday, we will set up management for the construction which will work alongside the local council to speed up [the process] and make sure that this place accords to the style and needs of the community.”
The town would initially be under the jurisdiction of the Shafir Regional Council, said Deri – a step that would allow construction to begin sooner and remove bureaucratic barriers to the new town’s establishment.
“When the town will be established of course we will set it up with the appropriate municipal framework. But until then, nothing would be better than to have Shafir advance this project, together with the Land Administration and Housing Council.
Regional councils act as the municipal bodies for small, unincorporated towns. Larger communities are incorporated either as local councils or full-fledged cities.
National Housing Council chief Avigdor Yitzhaki called the plan “historic”.
“This is a historic process for the haredi community. I intend to put 2,000 units from the project up for marketing already this year while development continues.”