Greenhouses for sale, but who is buying?
Photo: Hani Goldstein
Despite attempts to find an outside sponsor to pay for the demolition and clean up of settler homes in Gaza, no one has been found to contribute the tens of millions of shekels such an operation is liable to cost.
With disengagement a month away, government and foreign diplomatic sources told Ynet Saturday that, at the moment, Israel will the one to likely foot the bill.
"Why should anyone pay to clean up Israel's demolition work?" said one sources. "It would only happen if someone else flattened those buildings instead of us. Anyway, no international actor has taken interest in the matter."
A source at the Prime Minister's Office said, "The matter is not yet settled; it's not impossible that Israel would pay for it," adding that, compared to the NIS 10 billion (USD 2.5 billion) disengagement will cost, the amount in question is "relatively small."
Another matter not yet closed is the buying of settler greenhouses. The office of Vice Premier Shimon Peres has turned to the Dutch and other international players with an offer of buying the settlers' greenhouses and then gifting them to the Palestinians.
Controversial properties
European countries have avoided getting involved as it involves businesses established on conquered territory, so Israel has turned to European Jewish groups on the hope that they would buy the greenhouses.
However, the Jewish groups have not yet expressed interest.
The Palestinians are also not interested in buying the greenhouses.
Government sources told Ynet that greenhouses could employ thousands of Palestinian families, but "the problem is that buying greenhouses in the territories is not legitimate."