Some two months ago, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett took part in a conference devoted to the development of the Golan Heights and organized by Makor Rishon, a newspaper identified with the ideological right and the settlement movement. The widely covered event was held in Haspin (also known as Hispin), a largely religious community in the southern Golan, in the presence of several other members of Bennett’s “government of change.”
“The Golan Heights is a strategic goal. Doubling the communities in it is a goal of the government of Israel,” Bennett declared to the sound of applause. Bennett said he would start out with a realistic goal of establishing two new communities, bettering employment opportunities and increasing infrastructure investment on the Golan. “The government is providing the required resources for the implementation of this concept and we are now working toward it,” he told the crowd. “This is the commitment of the government I lead, and we will abide by it. When the government sees out its term, I want us to look back and say, ‘Done.’”
Very little seemed to have occurred following this rousing Oct. 11 statement until last week when Israeli media reports suggested that in this case, Bennett was determined to quickly put the government’s money where his mouth is. After all, his term ends in 18 months.
According to a Haaretz report, the Prime Minister’s Office is advancing the formation of a special planning committee to be granted broad authority in order to accelerate development and construction plans on the Golan. The establishment of the committee will be part of a proposal to be submitted soon for government approval. As Bennett promised, the proposal to be soon submitted includes two new localities and foresees a Jewish population growth of 50% by 2025 and a doubling by the end of the decade — from the current level of some 27,000 (not including the Druze communities). Achieving the goal will require extensive housing construction along with providing job opportunities and developing employment initiatives such as laboratories and agriculture-related services.
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