United Torah Judaism chairman MK Yitzhak Goldknopf sent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a letter on Thursday protesting what he described as the exclusion of ultra-Orthodox communities and local authorities in the West Bank from a new government plan related to settlement development in the area.
The letter, sent urgently after appeals reached his office from the mayors of Beitar Illit, Modi'in Illit, and Emmanuel, concerns item B on the government's agenda, under which a proposal is expected to come up to establish "temporary sites in rural communities in the West Bank." According to Goldknopf, the ultra-Orthodox local authorities are not included in the proposed framework.
"On the eve of the government meeting scheduled for tomorrow in the city of Nof HaGalil, I find it necessary to turn to you urgently and in deep pain, on behalf of 200,000 ultra-Orthodox residents of Judea and Samaria," Goldknopf wrote to Netanyahu. "Once again, we are faced with an outrageous reality that cannot be explained: the ultra-Orthodox public in Judea and Samaria is once again being sidelined, excluded, and completely pushed out of this plan."
Goldknopf pointed out that, of roughly half a million residents of Judea and Samaria, close to 200,000 are ultra-Orthodox, and that Modi'in Illit and Beitar Illit are among the largest urban centers in the area. In his view, a public of that size cannot be excluded from government programs addressing development in Judea and Samaria.
According to him, the heads of the ultra-Orthodox local authorities approached him "with a bleeding heart," and he passed their claims directly to the Prime Minister. "Why is it always them [ultra-Orthodox] who are left behind?" he wrote.
"How is it possible that the budgets, development, and benefits that reach the other communities never reach the ultra-Orthodox population centers in Judea and Samaria? Is the blood of the residents of Beitar Illit, Modi'in Illit, and Emmanuel less red? Are half the residents in the area invisible in the eyes of the government?" Goldknopf added.
He also explained that among the ultra-Orthodox public in Judea and Samaria, there is growing concern that this "exclusion is not accidental and is intended to prevent support and benefits from a certain public."
Goldknopf says ultra-Orthodox movement 'can't accept such discrimination'
"We cannot accept such discrimination," he wrote. "The ultra-Orthodox public is part of the settlement in the Holy Land and a full partner in strengthening, developing, and flourishing the settlement, despite conditions of overcrowding and terrible housing distress."
He said the residents of the ultra-Orthodox cities in Judea and Samaria "are entitled to every benefit and assistance as a matter of right and not as a favor." At the end of the letter, Goldknopf appealed to Netanyahu "as the Prime Minister of all the citizens of Israel," and asked him to reconsider the item before it is approved at the government meeting, and to ensure that any plan, benefit, or establishment of centers in the area applies "in a full and equal manner also to the ultra-Orthodox authorities and residents."
Goldknopf's appeal underscores UTJ's demand of Netanyahu, ahead of a government meeting intended to emphasize the government's commitment to settlement in Judea and Samaria, to include the area's ultra-Orthodox cities and communities in development plans and in the distribution of resources, and not leave them off the map of budgets and benefits.
In Goldknopf's office, people have in recent days been speaking of growing frustration in the ultra-Orthodox leadership over what is seen there as continued disregard for the needs of the ultra-Orthodox authorities in Judea and Samaria, at a time when the government is advancing broad plans to strengthen settlement in the area.