New West Bank aid to fund 20% of new settlement hotels

A portion of the government’s new multimillion-shekel financial aid package for settlements in the West Bank will be used to fund grants that will cover 20 percent of costs to build new hotels beyond the Green Line, the Tourism Ministry said Sunday.

Earlier in the day, the cabinet’s approved NIS 82 million ($21 million) in budgetary supplements for the West Bank, with NIS 5.5 million ($1.4 million) in funds allocated to encourage tourism there.

“After years of trying, for the first time, the Tourism Ministry will provide financial support for the construction of hotels in the main tourism areas in Judea and Samaria,” the ministry said in a statement, using the biblical name for the West Bank.

The statement said an increase in visitors to the West Bank in recent years necessitated the construction of new hotels, and that new ventures in the area were not eligible for the same benefits awarded to new hotel projects built inside Israel proper.

“The administrative grant given to the Judea and Samaria settlements will initially be equivalent to that given in areas within the Green Line, as they appear on the map of the Law to Encourage Capital Investment. To date, these settlements did not qualify for similar grants,” the statement said.

Speaking at the weekly cabinet meeting earlier in the day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the government would push for the large effort aimed at pumping millions into settlements across the West Bank.

“This is a multi-ministry effort aimed at strengthening security, aiding small businesses, encouraging tourism and more,” he said.

In addition to NIS 5.5 allocated for tourism, the Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported the the package includes a NIS 15-million stipend to local authorities in West Bank settlements, NIS 10 million in aid to renovate and improve security in public buildings and infrastructure, NIS 10 million for street lighting, NIS 6 million for youth programs and NIS 2 million in small business aid.

“Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria are experiencing a unique daily security situation because of their geographic location and the make-up of life in the region,” the cabinet said in a statement after the vote. The eight-month spike in terrorist attacks in the West Bank has had “a variety of effects on life, particularly sociological and psychological effects and economic damage to businesses that require redress and special services.”

Opposition lawmakers and chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat slammed the financial aid package as counterproductive to recent efforts to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

The move is also likely to draw condemnation from the international community, which considers Israel’s West Bank settlements illegal and has called on Netanyahu’s government to halt activity there.