Swooning and Passing Out Over Israel Building a Few Apartment Buildings in Judea-Samaria

 Nadene Goldfoot                                          

Israel is such a tiny country of some 8,550 square miles, and the population is doing what was originally expected;  growing to now  close to 9 million people.  The population by 1973 was mainly urban (82.5%).Aliyah to Israel is up by 31% so far in 2021 compared to last year.    After half a century of developing Jewish agriculture since 1948, there has been a steady process of urbanization during the previous 25 years since 1948.  Thus, while the rural population continued to grow, it became a smaller proportion of the population.  

In 2020, France, Germany, Britain, Italy and Spain are deeply concerned about Israeli plans to build new settler homes in the occupied West Bank, the countries said in a joint statement.  And there it starts, the ballyhoo over building.  This is why I say, the swooning and passing out over Israel's building plans.  Well, here's why they need to do it.  The population is growing and they need more living space.  Area C in Judea-Samaria is set aside for Israelis for living space.  Arabs have been illegally building in C, but no one mentions that.  They don't announce it, either, like Israel does.                                                 

    Metulla

Mountains and plains, fertile land, and desert are often minutes apart. The width of the country, from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Dead Sea in the east, can be crossed by car in about 90 minutes; and the trip from Metulla, in the far North, to Eilat at the country's southern tip takes about nine hours.  

      Eilat, a very hot place.  

There is not a man but has his hour, nor a thing without its place. (Talmud.Eruvim 58)

                                                             

Jerusalem

                                                                        

         Tel Aviv-Jaffa

                                                                  

        Haifa where I lived for a year attending an Ulpan for 10 months for teachers

The 3 major cities are:  The capital- Jerusalem, Tel Aviv-Jaffa and Haifa.  Tel Aviv-Jaffa is the largest.  It is part of a conglomeration of towns---which makes the central coastal plain the most populous part of Israel.  The Government has been making efforts to divert the growing population away from the central urban region towards the less populated development region and has been since 1973.  

Living in a metropolis is a hardship.  (Talmud. Ketubot. 110).  

The smaller towns may be classified as follows:

1. Those going back to biblical talmudic or mediaeval day, e.g. Safed, Tiberias, Akko (Acre), Lod (Lydda), Ramla, Beersheba, Nazareth, Eilat.  All these have grown considerably since the renewal of independence.  (Eilat was re-established after a lapse of centuries.

2. Villages which have grown into towns, e.g. Petah Tikva, Rehovot, Rishon le-Zion, Herzliya.

3. Towns established in Mandatory times, e.g. Ramat Gan, Holon, Afula

4. New development towns, e.g. Kiryat Sh'mona, Kiryat Gat, Dimona, Arad, Karmiel, each based on a comprehensive plan for housing, employment and the siting of industry.  These new towns have grown rapidly during the past 1963-1973.  Dimona has grown nearly fourfold.  Beersheba and Eilat have approximately doubled in size.

Urban problems are that growing urbanization has created several problems of which the most acute are:

1. Housing for population living in slum conditions.  It is hoped to solve this problem within a decade by 1983.

2. Traffic congestion is caused by the rapid increase in the number of cars in Israel.  New roads and highways solve this problem only partially.

3. Air pollution caused in Tel Aviv and Haifa by industrial plants and this increase in motor vehicle traffic.

4. The problem of crime and juvenile delinquency has grown with the urban population.  It is treated on 2 levels; 

   a.  By the improvement of social conditions and

   b.  By effective police work. 

Immigration, (ALIYAH)               

Since 15 May 1948, Israel has welcomed almost a million and a half Jews of whom more than half a million have been forced to flee from Arab countries. By 1973, many Jews from the free and affluent countries were coming to play their part in Israel's life and development, and I was one of them in 1980.  By 1973, the fearless claim of Soviet Jews to their right to settle in Israel had aroused worldwide sympathy, and thousands of them have overcome every obstacle and reached their Homeland.  This was also very true by 1980.  I was an American amongst the horde of Russians, my grandparents' people.  It was a most exciting time to be new Olim.                                

         Russian Olim;  They were so much better at learning Hebrew than we Americans.  They knew how to study languages.  

In the past, the great majority of Olim, who had few resources of their own, were given the transport to Israel by the Jewish Agency, the funds being subscribed by Jews throughout the world. 

                                             

                  A housing project in the West Bank settlement of Modiin Ilit.  Modi'in Illit is a Haredi Israeli settlement and city in the West Bank, situated midway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Modi'in Illit was granted city status by the Israeli government in 2008. No doubt they are going to build an addition onto the buildings already there.  Jews in Israel are faced with apartment living due to lack of space.  Those who actually live in a home are the very lucky ones.  I visited one in Safed.  Someone had dug out a real home from a past earthquake and it was lovely.  I was there at the top floor of our apartment building in Safed during another earthquake, and don't think I wasn't petrified.  I am an Oregonian, not a Californian, and I don't like earthquakes.  

                                                

Haredi Judaism consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism which are characterized by their strict adherence to halakha and traditions, in opposition to modern values and practices. It is also referred to as Torah Judaism and as a historical continuum of Rabbinic Judaism.
  

Just a few days ago, Israel announced it was building 1,300 new homes in the Jewish Judea-Samaria  towns.  The number adds to some 2,000 approved in August and increases fears for an already elusive peace process.  However, construction has accelerated in recent years under former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.  The settlements already house some 700,000 people.

    Bethlehem, a Palestinian town; 6.2 miles south of Jerusalem.. Our bus went through it on the way from Safed to Jerusalem.  You can't sing, "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem anymore". In 2017, the last census they took, had 28,591 population. Jordan captured the city during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Many refugees from areas captured by Israeli forces in 1947–48 fled to the Bethlehem area, primarily settling in what became the official refugee camps of 'Azza (Beit Jibrin) and 'Aida in the north and Dheisheh in the south. The influx of refugees significantly transformed Bethlehem's Christian majority into a Muslim one.  On December 21, 1995, Israeli troops withdrew from Bethlehem, and three days later the city came under the administration and military control of the Palestinian National Authority in accordance with the Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

However, Israel has approved plans for 1,300 homes for Palestinians as well.  Israel’s Civil Administration approved on Monday measures to advance the construction of 1,303 homes in Palestinian villages in the West Bank. What's shocking is that All of these villages are located in Area C of the West Bank, which under the Oslo Accords is under both Israeli military and civil control. Area C was set aside as the Jewish Area.  Palestinians are already getting area A and B.  Possibly the problem is that Arabs have been breaking the Oslo Accords and have been building in area C already.  So far, Only 170 homes were given final clearance, with hardly any new construction for West Bank Palestinians approved by Israel over the past years.

My son has informed me that he had no clue about why people would be swooning and passing out over Israel building a few apartment buildings.  Every time Israel does this and announces that they are going to build, the reaction from other governments has been negative, usually advising them against doing such a thing.  The  outside world believes otherwise, probably in that the Palestinians need more room to build homes.  

Resource: 

Updated 11/2/2021

Division of Information, Ministry For Foreign Affairs, Jerusalem, 1973.

https://mfa.gov.il/MFA/AboutIsrael/Maps/Pages/Israel-Size-and-Dimension.aspx

The total area of the State of Israel is 22,145 sq.km (8,630 sq. miles), of which 21,671 sq. km is land area. Israel is some 420 km in length and about 115 km across at the widest point. The country is bordered by Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the southwest and the Mediterranean Sea to the west.