Samaria Head: Homes 'R Us!

Build in Yesha to solve the housing crises.-Ted Belman


If political hamstringing ceases, Samaria can provide 35,000 units this year alone, says Regional Authority head.

by Gil Ronen

Thirty-five thousand new housing units can be built in Samaria this year alone, according to research conducted by the Strategic Department of the Samaria Regional Authority. Officials in the authority say homes not built in three years of a housing shortage in the coastal plain can be built in one year in Samaria alone.

The construction of 100,000 units in Samaria over three years “will cause many young people to prefer to move out of the crowded Tel Aviv / central area and rent an apartment 20-30 minutes away for 1,000-2,000 shekels,” they explained.

Samaria Regional Authority head Gershon Mesika presented Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Housing Minister Ariel Atias with a special plan Monday for solving the construction woes through massive construction in Samaria.

The research by Michael and Yehuda Fuah as well as the Samaria local authority shows that apartment prices rose nominally by 43 percent in 2008-2010, and rent went up 22 percent on average.

Mesika suggests duplicating the success of the city of Modiin, west of Jerusalem, in Samaria.

Israel meanwhile said it would issue tenders for 336 new homes in two communities in Judea and Samaria, a minimal beginning, a spokesman for the Israeli Ministry of Construction and Housing told AFP on Monday.

"We will very shortly issue tenders for the construction of 336 houses for Jews in Judea and Samaria" Ariel Rosenberg said. "In total, 294 homes are planned for Beitar-Illit, and 42 others in Karnei Shomron," said Rosenberg.

Beitar Illit is south of Jerusalem, while Karnei Shomron lies 15 kilometers (nine miles) west of Shechem.