New haredi city will be a 'poverty trap' says commentator
New haredi city will be a 'poverty trap' says commentatoriStock

Political commentator Chaim Levinson has strongly criticized the government's plans to establish a new city for the haredi public in the Negev, arguing that it will become a poverty trap and that the government already knows this and is pursuing the plans regardless.

Last week, the cabinet authorized the establishment of Kasif in the Negev, calling it a solution for the immense housing crisis that impacts the haredi community disproportionately. Given the lack of infrastructure in the designated area, it will be years before housing units can be marketed, and haredi leaders and Knesset members have also criticized the plans for this reason, denouncing the government's decision to bypass what they say is the preferable option of developing housing for the haredi community to the west of Kiryat Gat.

Writing in Haaretz, Levinson asked, "What are a hundred thousand haredim going to do in Kasif? They'll move there, and then what? Will they grow money in the desert?"

Levinson noted that similar government projects for haredi cities in more desirable areas closer to the center of the country have ended with thousands of impoverished families, with working parents either reliant on the limited employment opportunities within their new cities or forced to travel long distances, using often unreliable and expensive public transportation, to reach their places of work.

"These cities, relatively close to the center of Israel, became poverty traps," Levinson described. "Places like Beitar Illit, Modi'in Illit, and Elad, have very few employment opportunities, such as teaching or small businesses. It has not been effective to pursue such a policy. These places are deserts in terms of employment."

He also noted that, "The budgets department of the Finance Ministry has already made its calculations -- which came out negative. They are against the Kasif project. It costs 1.5 billion shekels to build such a city, when the average earnings per resident in Modi'in Illit are 1,366 shekels, and in Elad, 1,481 shekels. You can't build a city like that! Kasif is predestined to be an impoverished city."