Minister plans to house French immigrants in settlements
Uri Ariel hopes to expand settlements to accommodate influx of Europeans; meanwhile, government opens investigation into finances of WZO's Settlement Division.
Housing and Construction Minister Uri Ariel of Bayit Yehudi has ordered an expansion of settlements in order to make room for the stream of immigrants from France, Channel 2 News reported Tuesday.
Many Jews living in France expressed their intention to move to Israel following the terror attack on a kosher supermarket on Friday and many have already made aliyah, with some 7,000 French Jews arriving in Israel in 2014 alone.
.jpg "Housing Minister Uri Ariel (Photo: Jorge Novominsky)")
Ariel on Monday instructed officials in the Housing Ministry and the Israel Land Authority administration to expand settlements in order to accommodate these newcomers. Ariel also sent a letter to the Yesha Council, an organization of municipal councils of settlements, calling on members to prepare for a mass influx of French immigrants to the territories, and asked the council to immediately locate settlements that could be expanded.
Meretz Chairwoman Zehava Gal-On announced in response that she would involve Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein and the chairman of the Elections Committee.
Ariel responded that "unlike Gal-On and her partners, the Jews in France are real Zionists. I am working to find solutions to absorb olim in the entire country."
Labor Chairman Isaac Herzog and his political partner Tzipi Livni said: "This cynical step not only hurts Israel's standing in the world and will deepen the isolation Netanyahu has led us into, but also deeply hurts our relations with Jews of the Diaspora."
Sources in the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption also criticized Ariel, saying: "It's best for the Housing Minister to deal with matters in his office, and not in immigrant absorption and housing of olim."
Investigation into Settlement Division
Dina Zilber, deputy to the Attorney General, has been investigating the activities of the World Zionist Organization's Settlement Division. The Division handles settlement activity beyond the Green Line, and the vast majority of its activity, particularly its allotment of funds, is not supervised.
Upon receiving this information from Zilber, Meretz Chairwoman Zehava Gal-On has requested that the Attorney General order the return of NIS 12.6 million that were transferred to the Settlement Division, with the approval of the Finance Committee. Gal-On made the request after suspicions arose of the Settlement Division's possible involvement in the corruption scandals related to Yisrael Beiteinu MK Faina Kirschenbaum.
Zilber noted that the money transfer in question was approved by the government before elections were called.
This government decision also said that "the Settlement Division's updated work plan will be formed based on practical and equitable standards, and will emphasize localities in need from all sectors, that did not attain a satisfactory threshold of socio-economic development. Any activities by the Settlement Division will be conditioned on receiving all of the required permits, according to the law and in line with previous government decisions."
Zilber noted that different aspects of the Settlement Division's activity were under police investigation. Based on the investigation's findings and its development, it will be possible to consider financial measures both within the framework of criminal proceedings and outside of that framework, based on the professional opinion of investigators.
Tova Tzimuki contributed to this report.
