Bennett announced a new Haredi city - Kasif • The Haredi: A delusional and disconnected project

March 14, 2022   

The government approved today (Monday) at its weekly meeting a decision-making proposal to establish an ultra-Orthodox settlement with 20,000 housing units in Kassif in the Negev. Why is it important to cooperate with Israel's Seventh Population Census? The city of Kassif is expected to house 100,000-125,000 people when fully implemented. At the beginning of the government meeting, Bennett said: "Today we are also deciding on the establishment of a Haredi city, Kassif, which will alleviate the severe housing shortage in Haredi society. It has been many years since the state established a new Haredi city, and here we are doing it today," he boasted. "Here comes a kind word for the Minister of the Interior, Ayelet Shaked, and the Minister of Construction and Housing, Ze'ev Elkin, who are leading this all-important move. Chairman of United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni, He responded to Bennett's words: "Throughout the years, I opposed the establishment of an ultra-Orthodox settlement in Kasif. And indeed, the issue was rejected and instead they decided to build an ultra-Orthodox settlement in Shafir. "Now, the current government has taken advantage of the fact that we are not in the coalition - it has canceled Shafir, and is throwing the ultra-Orthodox public into Kasif, so that no one will go there.". MK Yaakov Asher He responded: "Those who want to care about Haredi society do not rudely cancel a decision made by previous governments to establish a Haredi city in Kiryat Gat West, and do not rob the Haredi of the tens of thousands of apartments that were planned there. "Establishing a cash register somewhere in the distant future will in no way cover up this terrible crime. Mr. Bennett, we are Haredi, but we are not stupid.". MK Israel Eichler On the expulsion of the Haredim to the 'settlement area' in Seyifa: "For years, they have been trying to turn the Haredim into cannon fodder in the Bedouin war in the Negev. It makes no sense that in the city of Arad, located about ten kilometers from Seyifa, the Haredim are not allowed to settle, and precisely on the border of Seyifa, which is the poorest city in the country, with the largest number of unemployed in the country, the Haredim who will be there are settled as a burden by their neighbors who are hungry for bread. "It is no wonder that the government, which persecutes the Haredim in all areas of life and the economy, is trying to expel them to the desert in Seyifa. Perhaps this is what the 'poet' Lieberman meant when he said, 'We should take the Haredim in wheelbarrows and throw them in a dumpster.'". MK Uri Maklev On Bennett's words that he 'cares even for those who don't vote for him': "Time and again, the Prime Minister brazenly lies to the public. It's easy for Bennett to turn words into money, but he doesn't bring practical and available solutions for the Haredi public. It's all a scattering of sand and lies to the public. "This government has preemptively canceled a government project in Shafir to solve the housing crisis, without any factual explanation and against professional opinion, but rather out of a vengeful motive, and dares to say that they care even for those who didn't vote for them... They don't care, they harass the Haredi public." Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri Attack: "Beware of the hypocrites," said the sages. The same government that robbed the Haredi public of its wealth and canceled with a single stroke a years-long plan that led us to establish a true Haredi city in western Kiryat Gat, is the one that is rolling its eyes today and sending the Haredi people to hell, in a delusional project that is disconnected from reality. "The government of deception of Bennett and Elkin continues to hold the public's eyes and abuse the Haredi public, whose only sin is that it stands by its principles and does not join this government of destruction.". MK Yulia Malinovsky Yisrael Beiteinu responded to Deri: "We have exhausted Deri's shouting and wailing. This is the only thing he knows how to do. At this rate, there will be a shortage of onions in the markets in an attempt to get crocodile tears out of him." It should be noted that, according to a report in Calcalist, while the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of the Interior support the establishment of the city, the Finance Ministry sees it as a waste of resources. Other opponents are the Haredi, who are asking for a place closer to the center of the country, and green organizations that see the establishment of yet another new settlement as an anti-environmental act. The Finance Ministry's position is to disperse the Haredi population in existing cities, thus saving 1.6 billion shekels.