Develop the periphery - there's plenty of room for everyone and it makes sense
 | By Joe Millis
July 26, 2011 | Share |
There's a housing crisis in Israel because too much of the country's scant resources have been squandered on the settlements in the occupied territories. For the past 44 years, this has been done to appease the fascists and the zealots. As long as these were happy, Israeli governments of all stripes (that is, right wing and even more right wing), couldn't care less about the majority of tax payers.
But now the chickens are coming home to roost. Israel is having its own Tahrir Square moment. Prices are on the rise - reaching and in some cases passing the UK's - while middle-class salaries are stagnant. According to the Israeli central bureau of statistics, the average Israeli salary is about 8,700 shekels a month - that's about £1,560. In the UK, it's about £2,200 a month. And let's not forget that Israeli taxes are higher than the UK's.
Just think of the difference that could be made if Israel had the sense to develop the Negev. Hell, there's even enough capacity for those settlers wanting to return from the occupied West Bank to Israel. And they'd no doubt have a lot of compensation money to spend in the Negev or Galil. So, double bonus.
Airports, for instance, are magnets for industry and services.
Instead of having Israel's main airport, Ben-Gurion, in the crowded area near Tel Aviv - an accident waiting to happen, according to Israel's own aviation authority - build it in the wide-open spaces near Beersheba. Why not develop Hatzerim, Nevatim or Ramon Air Force bases?
Build high-speed rail and road links to north and south - there's no reason why it should take more than an hour to Tel Aviv (comparable to the Piccadilly line link to Heathrow) or 90 minutes or less to Eilat. This will bring people who will need housing, services etc.
Develop the Galil, too, so that people will want to move there, rather than staying on the coastal plain. Hawve tax incentives for high-tech industries to move away from Kiryat Atidim, in Tel Aviv, or North Raanana Junction. It's a better investment than yeshivot, since those who work in high-tech pay taxes and will want to stay in Israel rather than seek the passports of the lands of their ancestors.
It is not beyond the wit of Israelis to restart building for the future, instead of clinging to some ancient notion about rocks and dust.
The settlements have cost Israel far too much, in shekels, in goodwill and most importantly in morality.
There's a housing crisis in Israel because too much of the country's scant resources have been squandered on the settlements in the occupied territories. For the past 44 years, this has been done to appease the fascists and the zealots. As long as these were happy, Israeli governments of all stripes (that is, right wing and even more right wing), couldn't care less about the majority of tax payers.
But now the chickens are coming home to roost. Israel is having its own Tahrir Square moment. Prices are on the rise - reaching and in some cases passing the UK's - while middle-class salaries are stagnant. According to the Israeli central bureau of statistics, the average Israeli salary is about 8,700 shekels a month - that's about £1,560. In the UK, it's about £2,200 a month. And let's not forget that Israeli taxes are higher than the UK's.
Just think of the difference that could be made if Israel had the sense to develop the Negev. Airports, for instance, are magnets for industry and services.
Instead of having Israel's main airport, Ben-Gurion, in the crowded area near Tel Aviv - an accident waiting to happen, according to Israel's own aviation authority - build it in the wide-open spaces near Beersheba. Why not develop Hatzerim, Nevatim or Ramon Air Force bases?
Build high-speed rail and road links to north and south - there's no reason why it should take more than an hour to Tel Aviv (comparable to the Piccadilly line link to Heathrow) or 90 minutes or less to Eilat. This will bring people who will need housing, services etc.
Develop the Galil, too, so that people will want to move there, rather than staying on the coastal plain. Hawve tax incentives for high-tech industries to move away from Kiryat Atidim, in Tel Aviv, or North Raanana Junction. It's a better investment than yeshivot, since those who work in high-tech pay taxes and will want to stay in Israel rather than seek the passports of the lands of their ancestors.
It is not beyond the wit of Israelis to restart building for the future, instead of clinging to some ancient notion about rocks and dust.
The settlements have cost Israel far too much, in shekels, in goodwill and most importantly in morality.
There's a housing crisis in Israel because too much of the country's scant resources have been squandered on the settlements in the occupied territories. For the past 44 years, this has been done to appease the fascists and the zealots. As long as these were happy, Israeli governments of all stripes (that is, right wing and even more right wing), couldn't care less about the majority of tax payers.
But now the chickens are coming home to roost. Israel is having its own Tahrir Square moment. Prices are on the rise - reaching and in some cases passing the UK's - while middle-class salaries are stagnant. According to the Israeli central bureau of statistics, the average Israeli salary is about 8,700 shekels a month - that's about £1,560. In the UK, it's about £2,200 a month. And let's not forget that Israeli taxes are higher than the UK's.
Just think of the difference that could be made if Israel had the sense to develop the Negev. Airports, for instance, are magnets for industry and services.
Instead of having Israel's main airport, Ben-Gurion, in the crowded area near Tel Aviv - an accident waiting to happen, according to Israel's own aviation authority - build it in the wide-open spaces near Beersheba. Why not develop Hatzerim, Nevatim or Ramon Air Force bases?
Build high-speed rail and road links to north and south - there's no reason why it should take more than an hour to Tel Aviv (comparable to the Piccadilly line link to Heathrow) or 90 minutes or less to Eilat. This will bring people who will need housing, services etc.
Develop the Galil, too, so that people will want to move there, rather than staying on the coastal plain. Hawve tax incentives for high-tech industries to move away from Kiryat Atidim, in Tel Aviv, or North Raanana Junction. It's a better investment than yeshivot, since those who work in high-tech pay taxes and will want to stay in Israel rather than seek the passports of the lands of their ancestors.
It is not beyond the wit of Israelis to restart building for the future, instead of clinging to some ancient notion about rocks and dust.
The settlements have cost Israel far too much, in shekels, in goodwill and most importantly in morality.
You know when the zealots have lost it - they start multiple OCD-like postings in the vain hope that no one will notice how disingenuous they are and how they resort to building straw men.
Send them a message - boycott the settlements
COMMENTS
27 July, 2011 - 10:45 Rate this: -1 points | The 1948 Nakba condemned hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to enforced exile and dispossession. During the 1967 war Israel was able to expel even more Palestinians. Around 300,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled from Gaza and the West Bank. Like the Nakba, many of these refugees were forcibly evicted and their villages bulldozed to ensure their non return. |
27 July, 2011 - 10:51 Rate this: -2 points | Millis writes |
27 July, 2011 - 11:00 Rate this: -2 points | Rushkin |
27 July, 2011 - 11:15 Rate this: 0 points | Harvey, you really do not have any clue about Israel or its society, do you? The population, as any fule no, is far too concentrated in the area between Herzlia and Rishon le-Zion. Most of the industry is there, as is the country's financial centre, Greater Tel Aviv. |
27 July, 2011 - 12:06 Rate this: -2 points | Lol millis |
27 July, 2011 - 12:16 Rate this: 0 points | Ho ho Harvey, that's what's called a straw man argument. It's usually employed when the person using it has no proper answer. Personally I'm with Boris on LHR. Shut the monstrosity down and build a new one in the Thames estuary. I know this might be an embuggerance to you cabbies but hey you can't make an omelette etc |
27 July, 2011 - 12:21 Rate this: 0 points | Just who are these settlers ? Essentially losers who can't make it in Israel so they take the zealot coin and move to where they don't have to make a living like regular people, but can live subsidised lives on stolen land. In the words of Israeli actress Rivka Mitchel... " All kinds of scum claiming land in the territories as their own " |
27 July, 2011 - 13:38 Rate this: -1 points | Millis |
27 July, 2011 - 13:48 Rate this: 0 points | You were the warm-up act. How come yer mate Hoffy didn't turn up? He's Statler to your Waldorf. |
27 July, 2011 - 13:57 Rate this: -1 points | Real real Zionist first since I live in Judea please let me know where I can obtain the subsidies you refer to no one has told me about them. Roi Klein (Hebrew: רועי קליין; IPA: [ʁoˈʕi klain]; July 27 1975–July 26 2006) was a Major in the Golani Brigade of the Israeli Defense Forces. Klein was killed in the Battle of Bint Jbeil during the 2006 Lebanon War after jumping on a grenade to save his fellow soldiers [1]. Klein was born in Raanana, Israel. He began his IDF service in the Paratroopers Brigade but later transferred to the Golani Brigade's Egoz Reconnaissance Unit[citation needed]. In 2002, Klein received a Chief of Staff Citation for his conduct during an ambush near Nablus in which 5 Palestinian terrorists were killed[citation needed]. During the Battle of Bint Jbeil, a hand grenade was thrown into the house where Klein and his unit were present. Klein told his men "Report that I've been killed" and subsequently jumped on the live grenade and stopped the explosion with his body[dubious – discuss]. The soldiers reported that Klein recited the Jewish prayer, Shema Yisrael, as he jumped on the grenade[citation needed]. |
27 July, 2011 - 14:01 Rate this: -1 points | He was there millis . |
27 July, 2011 - 14:02 Rate this: 0 points | Hell's teeth and love-a-duck, some people can't even copy and paste properly from Wikipedia. He lives on the West Bank. Mon oeil!!! |
27 July, 2011 - 14:03 Rate this: 0 points | That must be the reason it was sold out!! Poor old Hoffy - King Midas in reverse. |
27 July, 2011 - 14:07 Rate this: -1 points | I love the way Millis has grand plans for Israel - I suppose that means he is going to fund them too. |
27 July, 2011 - 14:11 Rate this: -1 points | Joe Millis I live in Judea get over it. Obviously you hate us so much all reason has gone out of the window and you call us extremists. |
27 July, 2011 - 14:14 Rate this: -1 points | Notice how Millis resorts to ad hominem when he is unable to counter an argument hence alleging that I lie by saying I live in Judea presumably to caste doubt on anything else I say. Rather pathetic when you think about it. |
27 July, 2011 - 14:18 Rate this: 0 points | For those wannabes and their shills who don't quite get it: the money squandered on maintaining the occupation of the West Bank and the settlements in order to appease the zealots would in itself be more than enough to develop the periphery. Add to that private money – which Israel could get because of promises of tax incentives and good returns (have you seen the shekel rates and TASE lately? - in it's in the bag. |
27 July, 2011 - 14:21 Rate this: 0 points | Netherlands, South Africa, New Zealand, North London etc etc... Goodness, the West Bank must stretch from Hendon to the Himalayas and from Kamchatkha to Kampala |
27 July, 2011 - 14:34 Rate this: -1 points | More pie in the sky - where's this compensation going to come from - less than 10,000 people were expelled from Gaza and six years later most of them have still not been properly resettled or compensated many of the children are suffering with psychological and educational problems - now multiply that by 40. But we are scum so who cares? You writing it in a blog does not necessarily mean it's going to happen now does it? By the way I don't want to live in the Negev I don't know many people who do - if you love it so much why don't you move there? |
27 July, 2011 - 14:34 Rate this: -1 points | Millis |
27 July, 2011 - 14:54 Rate this: -1 points | Harvey - Millis obviously has a problem with the truth if it does not conform to his world view so 30 people is a sellout and Hendon is in Judea. |
27 July, 2011 - 15:07 Rate this: -1 points | Chas Newkey-Burden says it all "My experiences have been largely positive: many people told me I have changed their minds about the issue, others said my writing had encouraged them to visit Israel for the first time, and I’ve made dozens of new friends here and in Israel. I took part in a bloggers’ trip to Jerusalem last summer and I have even been nicknamed “my online ambassador” by the owner of my favourite shawarma joint in Golders Green. But I also quickly discovered the cruelties of the web. Blogs, discussion forums and other online platforms allow for anonymous comments to be made. People hurl abuse and threats around, with negligible fear of being identified. They never see the faces of those they attack, nor are they aware of the hurt that is caused by their comments – hurt that can spread from the recipient to their loved ones too. Not that some of the attackers would care. Last week, it got too much. With a heavy heart, I decided to stop blogging. Given how committed to Israel’s cause I am, and what a success I had made of blogging, people were surprised by my decision. I was a bit surprised myself, actually. But I just want to stop feeling sick when I log on to my computer. I’ve had enough of going to bed at night with abusive comments ringing in my ears, then waking up to a fresh load of unpleasantness, much of it left by anonymous, shadowy authors." |
27 July, 2011 - 21:29 Rate this: 0 points | Some people, especially wannabe zealots, will resort to ad hominems when they are found out. |
28 July, 2011 - 11:08 Rate this: -2 points | the only zealot round here is millis - a zealot against his own. |
28 July, 2011 - 11:17 Rate this: -2 points | I’ve had enough of going to bed at night with abusive comments ringing in my ears, then waking up to a fresh load of unpleasantness, much of it left by anonymous, shadowy authors - says it all really. |
28 July, 2011 - 12:08 Rate this: 0 points | "Kitchen", "heat", "stand", "can't" are words that spring to mind when it comes to those wannabe zealots and their anonymous mates who pretend to be something they aren't. |
28 July, 2011 - 12:10 Rate this: 0 points | Advis3r, I know the feeling. I guess it comes with the territory. I'm satisfied if I can post arguments and well substantiate them. My experience is that I can come up with what I think are slam dunk arguments, and still not convince others. Everyone has their blind spots. |
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Advis3r
27 July, 2011 - 10:34
Rate this:
"they start multiple OCD-like postings in the vain hope that no one will notice how disingenuous they are and how they resort to building straw men"
This is because comments are blocked after hours as you well know. You have resorted to it yourself and I see Real Real Zionist does the same.
Anyway you still haven't told us what you will do with 400,000 Jewish refugees who will be created when you destroy their lives and their homes.
You can boycott us all you like, do we care? I think not.