Eisenkot's multi-billion plan for the North: "We will be judged by results on the ground"
Exclusive: Chairman of the Yashar! party Gadi Eisenkot will unveil a 15 billion shekel investment project for the rehabilitation of the North, with an emphasis on Kiryat Shmona. Shaul Meridor, former head of the Budget Department at the Ministry of Finance and a candidate on the list, claims that the project's funding will come from the cancellation of coalition funds: "Diverting 7-9 billion shekels from draft-dodging bodies that refuse to take part in the 'everyone serves' draft."
Chairman of the Yashar! party Gadi Eisenkot is expected to publish today, Monday, a plan for the rehabilitation of the North at a total cost of 15 billion shekels. The project includes the rehabilitation of the protection system for northern settlements with an investment of six billion shekels, as well as nine billion shekels that will be invested in all areas of life in the North, with an emphasis on industry, agriculture, education, health, and tourism. The project was prepared by Shaul Meridor, former head of the Budget Department at the Ministry of Finance and a candidate on the Yashar! list for the Knesset.
"We will work to advance the expected completion date of the protection from 2035 to 2030, with the protection of private homes 1-5 km away to be carried out by the end of 2028, and private homes 5-9 km away by the end of 2029," the plan states.
On the issue of personal security and governance, Eisenkot commits to establishing a district enforcement unit headed by a Brigadier General of Police, with 300 officers, to deal with serious crime. It is also written in the plan: "We will promote the opening of new businesses by updating the Law for the Encouragement of Capital Investments, we will promote a decade-long program for continuous support, including a comprehensive capital investment and development program in agriculture."
In the field of education, Eisenkot's party promises to increase the investment to 7,000 shekels per year, per child, for a period of five years. It was also promised: "We will develop a regional model for excellence in Kiryat Shmona and Nahariya. We will increase the investment in informal education by transferring the entire informal education budget to the authorities and increasing it dramatically."
The project also has a special chapter concerning Kiryat Shmona, which suffered severe damage after October 7: "We will anchor the status of Kiryat Shmona as the district city of the Eastern Galilee and ensure its growth, and its being a center of attraction for young people, families, and the population from all over the country. We will promote a comprehensive urban renewal program in the city center."
Shaul Meridor claims that this is a realistic plan and not an election gimmick: "Since I was appointed to lead the plan for the rehabilitation and prosperity of the North, I have been to the North more than 10 times, with the goal being to talk to everyone - heads of local authorities, industrialists, farmers, tourism, medicine, and education. We tried not to be populist but to provide an answer to the right things."
Meridor claims that the plan has two sources of funding: "Cancellation of coalition funds in favor of the rehabilitation of the North, and cancellation of a budget of 7-9 billion shekels for draft-dodging bodies that refuse to take part in the 'everyone serves' program."
Party chairman Eisenkot said that "the next government will be judged in the North - not by the number of statements, but by the results on the ground. First of all, by returning full security to the residents, but also by the civil response, the completed protection, the families who returned home, the businesses that reopened, the infrastructure that was built, and the trust that was restored."
