Cabinet approves NIS 2 billion stimulus plan for the south

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s NIS 2 billion ($548 million), long-term economic development plan for southern communities most affected by rocket fire during Operation Protective Edge was approved by the cabinet on Tuesday.

The 2015-2020 economic stimulus package is intended to strengthen infrastructure in the fields of energy, industry, employment, health agriculture, transportation, housing, social welfare, education, environmental protection and tourism in the Negev.

The increased government spending will also be used to develop an improved civilian response time for rocket attacks in the communities adjacent to the Gaza Strip, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.

The decision complements the cabinet’s earmarking on Sunday of NIS 1 billion for relief and development of southern communities.

“I told the mayors and local council heads whom I met with yesterday at the Eshkol Regional Council that the State of Israel was not making these unprecedented investments just for show,” Netanyahu said at Tuesday’s cabinet meeting.

“We are doing so with a twofold goal: investing in and deepening our hold on all parts of the country but also as a message to those who seek to uproot us — that they will never succeed in doing so.”

Netanyahu emphasized that the stimulus package aimed to strengthen outlying Israeli communities, saying, “We are working together in order to ensure the future of the State of Israel and the people of Israel.”