Orlev: Students in danger
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Orlev: Protect Sderot yeshiva students
MK Orlev: Sderot yeshiva students deserve same fortification as Sapir College students
The government is discriminating against 500 Sderot yeshiva students by not providing them with adequate protection against rockets fortification, Knesset State Control Committee Chairman Zevulun Orlev (NRP) said Wednesday. He was speaking at a hearing called to examine the progress made on the subject of fortification in the Gaza vicinity.
"I won't allow the students to be jeopardized just because they study at a yeshiva and not a college," Orlev said during the discussion, referring to the fact that students at Sderot's Sapir College enjoy better fortification. He added that he would summon Defense Minister Ehud Barak and
Housing Minister Ze'ev Boim to a meeting in order to clarify the recently uncovered disagreement between their two offices over funding for the fortification of student dorms.
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"The yeshiva has existed in Sderot for 14 years, and the dormitories are vulnerable. It is a miracle they haven't yet been hit directly," Orlev said.
Shlomo Kostiner, a yeshiva representative, claimed yeshiva students had "been overlooked." He presented a letter from the Deputy Defense Minister's Office to Housing Ministry Director General Haim Fialkoff, in which the latter is asked to include the yeshiva in the new Sderot fortification project.
The request was based on recommendations made by the Home Front Command following its investigation of the area. "The government allotted NIS 327 million (roughly $100 million) to the project and we are supposed to be included in it," Kostiner said.
Fialkoff responded by saying that the yeshiva plans to replace dorm caravans with permanent residences for the students, and according to the government's decision the fortification project will not include new structures that are supposed to include built-in protection.
Orlev stressed that the discrimination appears even more serious when considering the fact that Sapir College students only study there, while yeshiva students live at the site. He announced that the discussion would continue in a wider forum, which is to include the defense and housing ministers.
The State Control Committee is the only branch of the Knesset able to issue subpoenas to MKs that do not heed its summons, so the two ministers will have to comply with Orlev's invitation.
