Praising Israel's outlying regions, or at least populist praise by the supporters of these areas, can be heard from far away this week. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally celebrated bringing the periphery closer to the center following the opening of the northern segment of Road 6 (the Yitzhak Rabin Highway, also known as the Cross Israel Highway).
"Today, thanks to Road 6," declaimed Netanyahu, "A young couple can live in a house in the Galilee and quickly reach the center of the country."
The Galilee Development Authority appeals to the financial side of home buyers. "The price of a house in the Galilee is about NIS 1 million," it says on its website. "For this amount you could buy a three-room apartment in the center of the country. A family with two children could sell its a five-room apartment in central Israel and buy a house on a 500-square meter lot in the Galilee, and still have change left over to achieve other dreams."
We caution that couple that this could be a very expensive dream.
Suppose that, two years ago, the Israeli family decided to move to the Galilee. The Israeli family was not alone. In 2008, 1,000 families - about 4,000 individuals - moved to the Galilee, 25% more than in 2007. The Galilee Development Authority says that in April-May 2009, an additional 158 families bought lots for building homes in the region.
Instead of paying more than NIS 1 million for a three-room apartment in Givatayim, the Israeli family decided to realize its dream and move to the north. There, for the same amount, they could buy a 500-square meter lot, and build their dream house on it and still have money left over to buy a second car - an essential item when you're living at the end of the world. That, at least, is what the advertisements and broadcasts promised, and they persuaded the family to go north for the "quality of life".
And what about the fact that the Israelis worked in Tel Aviv? That's why - just listen to Netanyahu - the government is building the Cross-Israel Highway for you. Within 90 minutes, you'll be at you're office - an insignificant amount of time by international standards. ("It takes more than an hour to get from New Jersey to Manhattan.")
This month, the Israeli family ought to have been grinning from ear to ear. The northern segment of Road 6 was opened to Yokne'am at the edge of the Galilee, and within 90 minutes they could be at their office in Tel Aviv, and not only on Friday. But this month, while their employer was cutting their salaries "because of the situation", the Israeli family discovered that their current expenses in the Galilee had risen by more than NIS 1,000 per month.
This including watering their green lawn - the very reason for moving to the Galilee - which costs them more than NIS 500 per month, thanks to Netanyahu's latest revenue-generating measure, the drought tax. Gasoline - a basic resource for someone who spends hours on the road - has risen by NIS 0.90 per liter in the past two months alone, due to a slew of reasons that include a hike in the excise, in VAT, and in the rising price of oil.
Just segment 18 of Road 6, the good news that was supposed to connect the Galilee to the center of the country adds NIS 10 to the NIS 39 toll one way per car - and that's for drivers with the reduced Pass-Kal subscription.
What does this mean? Someone who thinks that the quality of life means a private house in the Galilee should know that scores of families in the Galilee are being crushed every day and every month by the weight of their current expenses. The equation that compares a house in the Galilee to an apartment in Petah Tikva or Givatayim usually neglects to include the comparative cost of living.
We're not only talking about the emotional factors that are part of the quality of life, such as the commute to work, local job opportunities, options for entertainment and shopping, and so forth, but also, and possibly most importantly, the financial variables, such as the cost of the commute, local price levels, and the maintenance cost of a private house.
Consequently, and despite the lip service by the prime minister earlier this week, we regret to inform the people of Israel that the new government has in the past month made the opportunity for young couples to achieve their dreams of buying, let alone maintaining, a house in the Galilee more remote. For now, despite high housing prices, a couple who earns their living in central Israel - and where else are there jobs? - it is far cheaper to reside in Tel Aviv suburbs Givatayim or Kiryat Ono.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 26, 2009
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