One of Israel's most closely guarded secrets is the amount of funding that is channeled to the settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. Now, the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz is presenting a nearly complete picture of government expenditure on the settlements, adding up to more than US$ 10 billion since 1967.
From mid-July to mid-August this year, during the period of the cease-fire, information was leaked to the Israeli media about non-military investments in the territories of about US$ 180 million, including subsidies and tax breaks for settlers, the construction of roads to new settlements, and incentives for prospective settlers.
Such leaked documents are rare, though, and do not answer the question as to how many extra billions the State of Israel spends each year on the 231,000 settlers residing in the territories.
The Ha'aretz investigation, conducted during the past three months, answers this question for the first time, as no prime minister or finance minister, from either the Likud or Labor parties, has ever bothered to do so. No economic institution, governmental or non-governmental, has made an attempt to look into the issue, either. On the contrary, every effort is made to conceal or camouflage the figures. The Labor coalition governments of the 1970s initiated this policy of hiding the settlement budgets from the scrutiny of critical Israeli and foreign observers, and the subsequent Likud governments adopted the same policy.
In researching the report, Ha’aretz reporters spoke with dozens of senior treasury officials and key political and economic leaders, and collected many relevant documents, in an attempt to bring together the complete picture. Ha’aretz also gleaned information from a pamphlet published by the Accountant General's Division of the Finance Ministry, which summarizes the amount of funding by various government ministries to local authorities - including those in the territories - in 2001.
Read the Full Report by Moti Bassok and Ha’aretz Staff. See: The extra civilian price tag: at least NIS 2.5 billion a year.
hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=344399
Source: Ha,aretz: http://www.haaretz.com/
Review of International Social Questions: http://www.risq.org
Please also see:
Study: 22% Of Israeli Households Go Hungry; Charity's Report Irked Sharon
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http://www.forward.com/issues/2003/03.09.05/news1.hunger.html
Gov't okays NIS 1.1B budget cut; hefty cut to child benefits
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon rejected on Wednesday a proposal by Housing and Construction Minister Effi Eitam to cut NIS 600 million from the defense budget, rather than from child allowances which have already been heavily cut under the government's economic austerity plan. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/346093.html
Israel considers using foreign ports to beat strike
In the case that Israel did go ahead, the cost of routing merchandise via the two foreign ports, estimated at 200 million dollars, would be deducted from the budget of the Israel Ports Authority, the Maariv newspaper reported. Trucks would begin transporting goods between the ports within two days.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=4&u=/afp/20031001/wl_mideast_afp/mideast_israel_economy
Our own ticking bomb
Over the years, this majority, who believes that the Palestinian leadership is solely responsible for our national crisis, has grown only larger. It allowed the "what's the use?" argument to become the primary tool for quashing criticism of the local leadership. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/345708.html
Israel to expand security barrier: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3155074.stm
UN: Separation Wall Cuts Off 210,000 Palestinians from Their Lives
The Special Rapporteur submits “the time has come to condemn the Wall as an unlawful act of annexation in the same way that Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights has been condemned as unlawful.” “This is likely to lead to a new generation of refugees or internally displaced persons,” he added. http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2003/2003-10/004.html
US Drops Demand for Israeli Concessions in Second Round of Loan Guarantees
Under congressional pressure, the US State Department declared that no immediate cuts in loan guarantees would be made at this stage. While the administration reiterated that cuts are expected in the future around settlement activities and the separation wall, Palestinians doubt that the US government has enough will or power to implement future cuts.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/october2003/Week%201/100103/drop-denmand.htm
Israel uses excessive force and annexation in Palestinian territories – UN report: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=8409&Cr=middle&Cr1=east
Oil, War And A Growing Sense Of Panic In The US; Don't tell me that America would have invaded Iraq if its chief export was beetroot, by Robert Fisk:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4855.htm
America’s Second Harvest: http://www.secondharvest.org/
From mid-July to mid-August this year, during the period of the cease-fire, information was leaked to the Israeli media about non-military investments in the territories of about US$ 180 million, including subsidies and tax breaks for settlers, the construction of roads to new settlements, and incentives for prospective settlers.
Such leaked documents are rare, though, and do not answer the question as to how many extra billions the State of Israel spends each year on the 231,000 settlers residing in the territories.
The Ha'aretz investigation, conducted during the past three months, answers this question for the first time, as no prime minister or finance minister, from either the Likud or Labor parties, has ever bothered to do so. No economic institution, governmental or non-governmental, has made an attempt to look into the issue, either. On the contrary, every effort is made to conceal or camouflage the figures. The Labor coalition governments of the 1970s initiated this policy of hiding the settlement budgets from the scrutiny of critical Israeli and foreign observers, and the subsequent Likud governments adopted the same policy.
In researching the report, Ha’aretz reporters spoke with dozens of senior treasury officials and key political and economic leaders, and collected many relevant documents, in an attempt to bring together the complete picture. Ha’aretz also gleaned information from a pamphlet published by the Accountant General's Division of the Finance Ministry, which summarizes the amount of funding by various government ministries to local authorities - including those in the territories - in 2001.
Read the Full Report by Moti Bassok and Ha’aretz Staff. See: The extra civilian price tag: at least NIS 2.5 billion a year.
hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=344399
Source: Ha,aretz: http://www.haaretz.com/
Review of International Social Questions: http://www.risq.org
Please also see:
Study: 22% Of Israeli Households Go Hungry; Charity's Report Irked Sharon
By NACHA CATTAN, FORWARD STAFF:
http://www.forward.com/issues/2003/03.09.05/news1.hunger.html
Gov't okays NIS 1.1B budget cut; hefty cut to child benefits
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon rejected on Wednesday a proposal by Housing and Construction Minister Effi Eitam to cut NIS 600 million from the defense budget, rather than from child allowances which have already been heavily cut under the government's economic austerity plan. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/346093.html
Israel considers using foreign ports to beat strike
In the case that Israel did go ahead, the cost of routing merchandise via the two foreign ports, estimated at 200 million dollars, would be deducted from the budget of the Israel Ports Authority, the Maariv newspaper reported. Trucks would begin transporting goods between the ports within two days.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=4&u=/afp/20031001/wl_mideast_afp/mideast_israel_economy
Our own ticking bomb
Over the years, this majority, who believes that the Palestinian leadership is solely responsible for our national crisis, has grown only larger. It allowed the "what's the use?" argument to become the primary tool for quashing criticism of the local leadership. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/345708.html
Israel to expand security barrier: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3155074.stm
UN: Separation Wall Cuts Off 210,000 Palestinians from Their Lives
The Special Rapporteur submits “the time has come to condemn the Wall as an unlawful act of annexation in the same way that Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights has been condemned as unlawful.” “This is likely to lead to a new generation of refugees or internally displaced persons,” he added. http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2003/2003-10/004.html
US Drops Demand for Israeli Concessions in Second Round of Loan Guarantees
Under congressional pressure, the US State Department declared that no immediate cuts in loan guarantees would be made at this stage. While the administration reiterated that cuts are expected in the future around settlement activities and the separation wall, Palestinians doubt that the US government has enough will or power to implement future cuts.
http://www.imemc.org/headlines/october2003/Week%201/100103/drop-denmand.htm
Israel uses excessive force and annexation in Palestinian territories – UN report: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=8409&Cr=middle&Cr1=east
Oil, War And A Growing Sense Of Panic In The US; Don't tell me that America would have invaded Iraq if its chief export was beetroot, by Robert Fisk:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4855.htm
America’s Second Harvest: http://www.secondharvest.org/