Soldiers Get “Free Space In Settlements” For Military Service

Monday January 25, 2010 20:52 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Israeli Paper, Yedioth Aharonoth, reported Monday that the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, approved a deal that grants former soldiers free pieces of land in the occupied Negev and Galilee.

Settlement - File

Every soldier who serves in combat units will be granted a quarter of a Dunam of land should he/she decide to settle in the Galilee or the Negev. (One Dunam equals 0.247 Acres). The estimated value of this quantity of land ranges between 100,000 & 150,000 NIS.

The plan was conceived with the assistance of Israel’s Youth Minister, Gila Gamliel, and both welcomed and supported by Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

The soldiers will be granted coupons, and in addition will not be obliged to pay development expenses. The new plan will remain effective for the coming five years.

Netanyahu's office will be in charge of half the financial expenses while the Housing Ministry would pay the other half.

The first stage will be the distribution of coupons for 1000 housing units in Israeli controlled territory in the Negev and the Galilee.

The initiative was first presented by Gamliel in co-operation with Netanyahu and recently received an official approval from the Israeli government.

It is the second half of an initiative granting free higher education to soldiers who chose to study in colleges in the Negev and the Galilee.

This initiative is another Israeli violation of international law, since Arabs are being forced out of the Negev so that Israel can build Jewish-only settlements.

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