Special Funding for Israeli Settlements Soared in 2015, Report Shows

[Israeli]

All told, public construction and investment has been higher in the West Bank than in other parts of the country: 'The ongoing settlement enterprise involves high costs and a heavy burden on the Israeli economy.'

Lior Dattel Apr 07, 2016

The Israeli government spends considerably more on a West Bank settler than it does on a resident of the outlying Negev or Galilee regions, and twice as much as it does on a resident of the center, according to a report by a local think tank that examined the direct costs of the settlements to the government’s coffers.

The study, conducted by the Macro Center for Political Economics, shows that the additional budgets the government transfers to settlement residents and local governments grew 28.4 percent in 2015 over 2014, to 1.41 billion shekels ($369.1 billion). The outlay per capita for the residents of Judea and Samaria came to 3,904 shekels – 14 percent more than the public spending per capita in the Negev, 28 percent more than in the Galilee, and 100 percent more than the public spending on residents of the center.

The researchers examined government funding of local government budgets, including education budgets, operating grants, and the budget segmentation of the Construction Ministry and the World Zionist Organization’s Settlement Division, as well as the cost of tax benefits given residents of those areas.

“The ongoing settlement enterprise in the West Bank involves high costs and a heavy burden on the Israeli economy and society, and it doesn’t matter if the reason is defense or civilian expenditures in the West Bank, reduced investment or the threats of boycotts,” says the report, which was written by center director Dr. Roby Nathanson and the center’s research director, Itamar Gazala, who processed data from the Central Bureau of Statistics and from the state budget.

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[Israeli]

1. Further to .....

Report: Israel Spends 61% More on Settlers than Other Citizens

A report on Israeli government spending showed that Tel Aviv spends more money on illegal West Bank settlements than anywhere else.

The Macro Center also found that despite repeated calls for halting settlement expansion, the Israeli government has increased its area in the West Bank by 105 percent, from 4.85 million square meters in 1998 to 9.97 million square meters in 2015.

The report suggests the Israeli government has no plans to halt settlement expansion in the West Bank, let alone withdraw or evacuate from the West Bank due to the high costs of such a move.

“There is substantial state intervention in the housing market in Judea and Samaria compared to other areas,” the report states, using the Israeli terms for the West Bank. “This is evidence of an effort to draw additional people to Judea and Samaria.”

The report further warned that some of the government’s support to the illegal settlements is kept confidential in order to avoid public debate and criticism and to override decisions from the attorney general’s office.

Source: http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Report-Israel-Spends-61-More-on-Settlers-than-Other-Citizens--20160407-0030.html