“In light of the negative economic effects of the establishment of new settlements, it is proposed to oppose the establishment of the new settlement Hanun. We must wait for an economic examination of the move as a whole and its impact on the state budget and existing settlements in the region, with emphasis on the Negev.” This is what the Ministry of Finance’s budget department is now demanding, following the government’s decision of November 8, 2020, to establish a new settlement in the Gaza Envelope, Hanun. The establishment of the settlement was also recently approved by the National Planning and Construction Council, after Interior Minister Eilat Shaked, who is in charge of the council, claimed that it was a “historic Zionist move.”
According to the opinion of the Budget Division, the establishment of the Hanun settlement has costs estimated at NIS 40 million for the establishment of public institutions and educational institutions, as well as the cost of infrastructure over NIS 83 million. “It will be clarified that there is no budgetary source to finance these costs, and as long as the government makes a decision on the establishment of the settlement and in accordance with the Budget Basics Law, a budgetary source must be indicated to finance the said costs,” the Treasury emphasizes. The excess cost over condensing existing localities is about NIS 50 million, in addition to the planning costs. Therefore, in order to carry out the first phase, the Treasury demands that the government point to budgetary sources amounting to NIS 50 million.
The Ministry of Finance is frightened by Interior Minister Shaked’s decision to promote more than 20 new localities, most of them in the Negev. According to the Budget Division, this is a “policy that has not been unanimous in recent years. A situation in which there is a steady stream of settlements requires comprehensive consideration, both in economic and planning terms as one piece. In our view, establishing new settlements is contrary to government policies In the periphery and the ability to create significant metropolitan areas outside the center of the country as well. “It changes the economic-social structure of the Negev significantly, adversely affects cities supported by state budgets, dramatically expands investment in excess infrastructure and produces inefficient services.”
As for the nerd locality, the Ministry of Finance warns that due to the geographical proximity, “the housing units that will be built in the new locality are in fact an alternative solution for housing units that could and will be built in the nearby city, Netivot.” Therefore, they note the establishment of the new settlement “will come at the expense of the continued expansion of the city of Netivot.” In addition, the new locality is expected to attract the strongest population from the city of Netivot and the surrounding area, “and this policy will be a continuation of an existing and recognized problem in the Negev of leaving established populations from the cities in favor of exclusive localities and weakening Negev cities due to this trend.”
In addition, the absorption of residents in a new locality imposes higher costs on the local authority than the absorption of those residents in the neighborhood, as part of a city. The excess cost of establishing a new settlement in place of a new neighborhood will, according to the Treasury, “significantly burden the Sdot Negev Regional Council, and as a result will impair the council’s ability to provide education, welfare and other municipal services to all its residents.” “A new locality will be more expensive, and therefore more attractive; and the economic benefits will be more limited – such as employment opportunities that will grow less than in the alternative in which a neighborhood will be established in Netivot.”