Seibert: "The secular public's mistake was that it defeated the Haredim with a plow""

May 25, 2015   

""The housing shortage in the Haredi sector is very great. The state had the intention of establishing a Haredi city in Harish, and it failed," says Bnei Brak Mayor Hanoch Seibert in an interview he gave to Raz Smolsky in 'The Marker.' "So instead of Harish, the Haredi public moved to other communities. ""If solutions are not found for the Haredi public, the Haredi public will find solutions mainly in the periphery, and it will eventually live in every city in Israel, not in Kasif. The secular public's mistake was that it defeated the Haredi in Harish.". "אני לא חושב שהציבור החרדי צריך לחיות בערים חרדיות, כי אלה ערים בלי הכנסות. כשהחרדים גרים בעיר חילונית, זה מאזן עלויות, כי החילונים צריכים פחות שטחי ציבור. "במודיעין עילית, למשל, נולדת כיתה חדשה של ילדים כל שבוע. כל שנה צריך לבנות בעיר 50 כיתות לימוד חדשות. לאוכלוסייה החילונית, לעומת זאת, יש פחות צרכים באותו תקציב". זייברט מוסיף: "בתחום הדיור אף אחד לא מתעניין בציבור החרדי, ולכן החרדים גרים בכל מקום. אני לא רואה בזה בעיה, אבל זה יכול לגרום לחיכוכים עם האוכלוסייה החילונית, כמו בבית שמש. אם לא רוצים שהציבור החרדי ישתלט על בית שמש, צריך לייצר לו פתרונות אחרים. המציאות דואגת לעצמה". What solutions do you propose to increase the number of housing units in Bnei Brak, Seibert was asked. ""We are planning a master plan, which will soon be submitted to the district committee, to expand the city with another 10,000 housing units, 1.5 million square meters for employment, 300,000 square meters for public institutions and a 300-dunam park. Currently, the city has 40,000 housing units and about 190,000 residents. In this plan, we are careful to separate residential and employment uses. I know this is in contrast to other cities, which actually want to mix the uses, but it is not appropriate here. Businesses serve the entire population, and they need to be made easier, and it is also not appropriate for the Haredi residents. ""Evacuation-construction is not relevant for six-and-a-half-story buildings, so it is not economically viable in Bnei Brak. Therefore, the only solution for us is TAMA 38, but we do not give permits to strengthen buildings, only for demolition and rebuilding. We take a three-story building and double it, but also add parking lots, infrastructure, synagogues and appropriate solutions for the residents.". ""Even so, the city lacks kindergartens, schools and synagogues. Bnei Brak is currently 90 years old, but about 40% of its residents, almost 80 thousand people, are under the age of 18. It is a young city, which needs many educational institutions. In plans for rebuilding and demolishing, we require that kindergartens and parking lots be built on the ground floor of every building.".