State loses millions over mishandling of Gush Katif evacuees
Knesset lobby for Gush Katif to discuss new study suggesting delays in resettling, compensating Gush Katif residents have, and will, set State fund back million of dollars
The study was commissioned by Professor Ezra Sadan, former director general of the Israeli Ministry of Finance, and Former Deputy Governor to the Bank of Israel Yakir Plessner.
Twenty-eight months have passed since the disengagement, and 85% of the families evacuated from Gush Katif still live in temporary housing.
The study further points out that while Sinai evacuees received compensation totaling $500,000 per family, from the government, Gush Katif residents were only given a meager $125,500 each to leave their homes.
The boomerang effect
This governmental policy, says the study, has ultimately resulted in an economic ‘boomerang effect’ and millions of additional dollars in expenses.
The Study also noted that the government practiced flawed economics in its dealings with evacuees, preferring to relocate entire communities all at once, rather than dealing with individual families and attending to their needs.
This policy led to soaring unemployment on one hand and a major housing crisis on the other.
Compensating evacuees more generously, the study finds, would have allowed them to reestablish their communities quickly and efficiently.
Moreover, the report presented to lobbyists suggests caravan parks might well be home to evacuated residents of Gush Katif for far longer than originally intended.
According to the study, the evacuated residents of Gush Katif are in dire economic straits as well: Some 1,260 residents are still unemployed – out of 3,500 adults currently in the work force – and 500 families are currently receiving public assistance after their financial state had “deteriorated substantially”.
