Katif Evictees Say New Gov't Treats them Better

Gil Ronen
A7 News

Representatives of some 1500 families that were evicted from Gush Katif said Wednesday that the State's attitude toward them has improved since the new government took office earlier this year. Doron Ben Shlomi, head of the Council for Gush Katif Evictees, said that “there is a meaningful change in attitude” between the Olmert government and the present government under Netanyahu. “Now there are frequent meetings with Gush Katif representatives and we should be thankful for this. Still, there are some problems that must be addressed. One is the fact that this mission has yet to be defined as an urgent national priority.”

MK Uri Ariel (National Union) said that the change in the leadership of the Sela Administration [which was created to assist the evictee was a good one and that “there is a feeling... of a change.”

Finalizing agreements?

The representatives appeared before the Knesset's Finance Committee, which is following the State's treatment of the Gush Katif evictees. The committee's chairman, MK Ofir Akunis, called upon the authorities taking care of the evictees, including the Director of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), to involve the evictees more in the process of aiding them.

"I am pleased with the change for the better that is felt on the ground as well, and also with the establishment of a forum of directors after I requested this from the Director of the Prime Minister's Office,” said Akunis, “but there is still a lot of work ahead of us. In the next discussion we will talk about the matter of employment and together with the Children's Rights Committee, about the treatment of the evicted children and youths.”

PMO Director Eyal Gabbai, said that “from the moment that the government was sworn in, we have been dealing with the matter intensively. We have dedicated much time to understanding the picture and to frequent meetings with the evacuees' representatives...We appointed a new head of the [Se administration, Bentzi Lieberman, and we added a year to the administration's span of activity. We have approved a series of decisions in the government and the relocation agreements have been brought to finalization. I feel a true and sincere will on behalf of the evacuees to reach a settlement.”

The committee plans to conduct a tour of the communities in which the evictees are presently housed.