Jewish settlement activity continued, during the intifada period, to receive priority in terms of municipal funding, building for residential purposes and road construction, despite heavy cuts in government funding to local authorities. The allegation was made in a report published by Dr. Shlomo Swirski, Etty Konor-Attias and Itai Schurtz of the Adva Institute Adva Institute. The report covers the period from 1995-2004.
Arab communities, on the other hand, suffered from the lowest municipal funding levels. According to the document, the interior ministry- financed municipal income per person in settlements in the Golan and West Bank area stood at NIS 1,241, compared to NIS 802 per person in development towns and NIS 738 per person in Arab communties.
Municipal funding for public services - education, health and welfare, stood at NIS 1,949 in the Golan and West Bank settlements, compared NIS 1,363 in the development towns and NIS 1,346 in Arab settlements.
The study also revealed that the level of government involvement in residential building projects in the West Bank was substantially higher than that within the Green Line. 25,714 apartments were built during the period 1995-2004 at an investment of NIS 13.4 billion. The state initiated around 57% of the construction projects in this period, funding around 40% of the total investment in residential property. This was higher than the level in the rest of Israel, where the state initiated around 27% of construction projects launched and funded 16% of the total investment.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on February 12, 2006