The Israeli cabinet approved NIS 50 million ($12.8 million) to strengthen Kiryat Arba and the Jewish community in Hebron on Sunday, July 10.
Commenting on the special assistance plan at the weekly cabinet meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu noted that “government offices have all been recruited to assist the residents who stand heroically in the face of vicious terrorism, including yesterday’s terrorist attack in which, happily, no lives were lost.”
The Israeli prime minister was referring to the terrorist attack in Gush Etzion on Saturday night, July 9, near Tekoa, where an Israeli family of eight came under fire as they were driving home to Netivot, following a visit to the children’s grandparents in the Metzad community. The wife and six children were miraculously unharmed while the father, who was driving the family vehicle, was moderately wounded by the gunshots, which struck his leg.
The cabinet approval comes 10 days after the murder of 13-year-old Hallel Ariel, who was stabbed to death by a 17-year-old Palestinian terrorist as she lay sleeping in her bed in her family’s home in Kiryat Arba on Thursday, June 30.
The following day, Friday July 1, a terror attack targeted Rabbi Michael ‘Miki’ Mark and his family of the Otniel community, located near Hebron, as they were driving on Route 60. Mark was killed in a drive-by shooting by Palestinian terrorists and his wife was seriously injured by the gunshots while two of their children were lightly and moderately injured in the attack.
The funding boost will be used for education, security, and social services in Kiryat Arba and Hebron and will be allocated over a period of three years. The Ministry of Housing and Construction will designate NIS 4.5 million ($1.1) to Kiryat Arba, some of which will be used to renovate public areas, stairwells, and buildings as well as educational programs and community initiatives.
The Construction and Housing Minister, ex-IDF general, Yoav Galant of the Kulanu party, stated at the meeting that there is national importance to assisting the community of Kiryat Arba, which is comprised of approximately 8,000 residents.
“It is our responsibility to strengthen the residents of Kiryat Arba and strengthen the local community, particularly at this time, days after the inconceivable murder of a girl in her sleep in the community,” said Galant.
