Israel to Spend NIS 1.41B on Arab Housing

YERUSHALAYIM
The Israeli Arab city of Umm al-Fahm. (Reuters/Ammar Awad)
The Israeli-Arab city of Umm al-Fahm. (Reuters/Ammar Awad)

Housing Minister Yoav Galant has signed off on a plan that would see some 30,000 new homes built in the Arab sector. The homes will be built in 15 different local authorities at a cost of NIS 1.41 billion. The homes will be built on state lands, as well as on private holdings, with a mix of apartment buildings, cottages and villas.

The 15 local authorities where homes are to be built include Nazareth, Um al-Fahm, Taibe, Shfaram, Tamra, Sakhnin, Baqa al-Garbiya, Tira, Ara’ara, Arab, Kfar Kassem, Kafr Kana, Gadida Machar, Kafr Manda and Yafi’a. The plan will be enacted in several stages, with the first an increase in the local authorities’ budgets to allow them to develop infrastructure.

In addition to the money allocated for the homes, the government will also allocate hundreds of millions of shekels for the construction of schools, community centers and other public buildings. “Over the past year we have worked hard to strengthen the housing stock in the Arab sector,” said Galant. “This is a national interest for Israel.”

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