Nitzan: religious residents want seculr residents to 'leave'
צילום: איי פי
Religious, secular segregated in Nitzan
Religious residents say influx of secular families 'damages town's character'
NITZAN - The future of Nitzan is under threat, claim its religious residents.
The town was supposed to be a religious, but it has received 100 secular settler families from Gaza, sparking protests by religious residents.
Yonatan Bassi, head of the Disengagement Authority, said that “residents began complaining that the character of the town was being undermined, contrary to decisions taken previously.”
The town was supposed to receive around 900 families.
In order to solve this ‘problem,’ the possibility of getting the secular families to leave the town of their own free will has been raised.
Ilan Cohen, director-general of the Prime Minister’s Office, said during discussions on the issue that “if the secular families want to live in Nitzan, they must be allowed to.”
Interior Minister Ofir-Pines said, “With all due respect, it's possible to live together. There are places where this happens, and the town was built to accommodate everyone.”
A decision was finally taken according to which the Disengagement Authority and the Housing Office would oversee an "appropriate" separation in the town, in an attempt to decrease tension between the communities.
The result will be a large religious neighborhood, containing a much smaller religious area, close to the highway, in order to allow the secular families to drive on Saturdays without interfering with the daily routine of the religious sector.
Meanwhile, the Disengagement Authority said that whoever did not evacuate from Gaza by the start of the pullout would lose out on large sums of money.
According to the law, whoever has not voluntarily left their homes by August 16 will lose a number of compensation packages.
Prime Minister Sharon said that “over half of the residents in the settlements slated for evacuation have already made their requests for compensation.”
Addressing those who have not yet left, the prime minister said, “We are in the last moment, it's time to stop wasting time and begin the move.”
