The government's ambitious plan to increase the population of the Jordan Valley has gotten off to a sparkling start. Yesterday, the first day of the campaign, no fewer than 110 young couples signed up for the chance to receive 100,000 shekels towards the building of a new home in the strategically-important Jordan Valley. Peace Now, predictably, is critical of the campaign, saying that the money should have been invested instead in the underprivileged classes.
Jordan Valley Regional Council head David Levy told Arutz-7 today that not all of the couples are likely to pass the government standards. "For instance," he said, "they have to be within five years of completing their army or national service." The program allows for 200 new families, and whatever number is missing by the end of the current campaign will be made up next year.
"Where will the new families live?," Levy was asked, and responded, "We don't know yet. They were asked to note their top choices, and we are now beginning to process the information. We can assume, for example, that the religious couples chose the religious or mixed communities."
The Jordan Valley Regional Council includes 19 communities with a total population of some 3,500. Its first community was Kfar Mechola, established in 1968. The region, of over 330 square miles, is bordered by the Jordan River on the east and the Shomron Mountains on the west, and reaches northwards to Beit She'an and southwards to the Dead Sea.