The Israeli government decided to encourage constructions and development in the Galilee areas, north of the country, and offered tax breaks and special grants for the residents.
Israeli Vice Premier Shomon Peres called on Israeli residents of central Israel to move to the northern Galilee region which he described as a beautiful area, with good potentials of life and employment.
The statements of Peres came while he was touring the Galilee, on Thursday, and launched a campaign to increase the Jewish population in the Galilee by offering the new settlers special benefits.
The Israeli Ynetnews reported that this is the largest project of its kind in the last 20 years. It includes 10200 existing apartments which are on sale, and construction of additional 104 communities.
Peres said that the investments employed by the government there include train system, the encouragement of entrepreneurs and special discounts in residential land prices.
Also, the “package” includes 13% income tax discount in addition to other discounts municipal taxes.
The special packages are means to encourage the Israelis to settle in several areas in the Galilee, namely Tiberias, Karmiel, Beit She’an, Maalot, Nahariya, Nazareth Elite, Acco (Acre) and Afula, among others, the Ynet reported.
Peres toured the Galilee on Thursday and called on the Israelis to “come and settle there and enjoy the beautiful lands and environment”.
Dozens of construction companies signed agreements with the Israeli government to construct and develop the Galilee area. Several Jewish agencies which encourage settlements in addition to nine Israeli regional councils and tourist agencies are part of the project which aims to boost the Jewish population in the Galilee.
Also, Peres said that the details of the project will be elaborated by the media. “We are talking here about 10200 apartments, the expansion of 104 towns and creating 2500 job opportunities.
Sami Barlev, head of Katsrin municipality, and Moshe Bavidovitch, head of the Galilee Development Authority, said that any new comer to the area will receive 13% tax discounts and other municipal tax discounts and other discounts relating to the nature of the place and security conditions. The prices of lands there could be down by 69% such as Misgav area.
The “development project” of the Galilee comes while Arab communities there are unable to find apartment of jobs, and their communities are not provided with the basic municipal services.
700 Israeli families called the specialized authorities and logged into the special WebPages in order to receive further information about the project, the Ynet reported.
Bavidovitch said that 705 of the Israelis who showed interest in settling in the Galilee are married, and that most of them showed interest in settling in the countryside.
