A Joint Program of the Ministry for Development of the Negev and the Galilee and the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption to Encourage New Immigrants to Settle in the Negev and the Galilee
Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister for Development of the Negev and the Galilee, Silvan Shalom: “In addition to the Absorption Basket that new immigrants currently receive, we will offer assistance in housing and employment. We will provide the necessary tools to those that choose to settle only in the Negev and the Galilee.”
The Minister for Immigrant Absorption, Knesset Member Sofa Landver: “We at the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption view the settlement of the Negev and the Galilee as a privilege and not as a duty. I believe that together with the Ministry for Development of the Negev and the Galilee we will succeed in settling the periphery with new immigrants and fulfill the Zionist dream.”
In accordance with the Government’s decision on 7/1/2010 to lead new immigrants to settle in the Negev and the Galilee, the Ministry for Development of the Negev and the Galilee and the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption will initiate a program to encourage new immigrants to settle in communities in these regions. The Jewish Agency will market the program to potential immigrants.
The program aims to encourage and to facilitate the absorption of immigrants in Israel by means of coordinated support beginning from the moment they inquire about aliyah while still overseas until they are integrated within the absorbing agency in Israel.
Within the framework of the pilot to encourage aliyah, the Ministries for Development of the Negev and the Galilee and Immigrant Absorption will allocate NIS 5,500,000 for the absorption of 212 new-immigrant families that will be making aliyah beginning from 1/6/2010 and up until 31/12/2010.
Assistance will be given for education, employment, and rental subsidies.
This innovative feature of the program is that in addition to the Absorption Basket that each new immigrant receives, each immigrant that settles in one of the Negev or Galilee communities participating in the pilot will also receive additional assistance. Immigrants that settle in a participating community will receive an supplemental rental subsidy of NIS 1200; a sum that is twice the amount given to immigrants that choose to live in a city in the center of the country.
In the area of employment, each household can receive additional assistance of NIS 4000 according to the vocational track devised together with each immigrant. Together with the financial assistance, vocational training, courses, equipment, and individual connections with potential employers will also be offered.
In order to assist new immigrants in the area of education, additional benefits will be given in conjunction with the local authorities that have chosen to participate in the pilot.
The program has been developed based on experience gained over the past years by the Ministries for Development of the Negev and the Galilee and Immigrant Absorption, which held meetings and conducted fieldwork with absorption coordinators in the local authorities and municipalities. According to the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption’s data, the majority of the new immigrants prefer to settle in communities in the center of the country. It was therefore decided to create an attractive “basket” for them so that they would prefer cities in the Negev and the Galilee in order to reinforce these regions.
The localities included in the project were chosen based on the experience and motivation of the local authority to absorb new immigrants. These communities are: Beer Sheva, Dimona, Tiberias, Carmiel, Migdal HaEmek, Nahariya, Upper Nazareth, Acco, Arad, Tzfat, Katzrin, and participating communities of Bayit Rishon B’Moledet in the Negev and Galilee.
All aliyah and absorption programs will be implemented in conjunction with the local authorities, which will offer the immigrants a “municipal basket” that includes discounts on municipal services, and will rely on absorption options within the community or within proximity to it. In most cases, groups of immigrants will be advised by a counselor who will take care of each family’s absorption requirements.
According to Ministry of Immigrant Absorption statistics, during the year 2009, approximately 17,000 immigrants made aliyah. This high number is the result of special programs that offer incentives. In spite of this, out of the total number, only some 2,500 immigrants chose to make their homes in the Negev and the Galilee. A special benefits program, which will only offer incentives to those immigrants that move these regions, is expected to encourage aliyah to Israel in general and to reinforce the Negev and the Galilee in particular.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Development of the Negev and the Galilee, Silvan Shalom: “This is a significant program and will make possible the reinforcement and development of the Negev and Galilee both economically and socially. The goal of this decision is, among other things, is to strengthen these areas by granting to new immigrants that settle permanently in the Negev and Galilee extra assistance in housing, employment and education. According to our research, employment is the most important factor that would influence new immigrants’ decision to settle in the Negev and Galilee. These regions already offer a high quality of life and fine education. Once we help immigrants find employment, I have no doubt that will be willing to go there. This decision was another stage in implementing my goal of bringing 300,000 new residents to the Negev and 300,000 new residents to the Galilee. While reinforcing the already-existing population, an influx of strong new residents will bring about a real change on the ground.”
Minister for Immigrant Absorption, Knesset Member Sofa Landver: “The Ministry of Immigrant Absorption welcomes this program. We view the settling of the Negev and the Galilee as a privilege and not as a duty. This program, whose goal is to reinforce the Negev and the Galilee, is an important one, and we are happy to be a partner in fulfilling the vision. Together with the Ministry for Development of the Negev and the Galilee, we will construct this program in order to realize the potential that exists among new immigrants to settle in these regions. We believe that the State must reinforce the periphery, and in particular must ensure that young people settle in the Negev and Galilee. We as a State must do all that we can in order to strengthen the young people that reside in the periphery, and to encourage the many young people that will come and prosper there. I thank the Ministry for Development of the Negev and Galilee, and Minister Shalom at its head, for their valuable cooperation and for this most necessary step in bring new immigrants to the periphery. I believe that together we will succeed in realizing the Zionist dream.”
For more information:
Lilach Ben-Barzilai, 050-6214562;
Yoash Ben Yitzhak, 050-6214503