Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said March 13 that the government will push forward the establishment of the ultra-Orthodox town of Kasif in the south of the country. According to the plans, at the first stage, the ultra-Orthodox city will include no fewer than 20,000 housing units and will be built next to the Bedouin city of Kseifa. The government can thus allegedly kill two birds with one stone: achieve a solution to the terrible housing crisis among the ultra-Orthodox, and put a stop to the Bedouin expansion in the south by means of establishing a Jewish city that will end illegal settlements now happening on government land.
Truth be told, the plan has been on the ropes for several years now. The Housing Ministry has invested close to 30 million shekels in planning the city since the government first decided on its construction in 2007, but none of the governments since have arrived at the implementation phase.
What exactly does a town for the ultra-Orthodox mean? The plan considers the structure of the average ultra-Orthodox family, namely young parents with many children. It also considers the community’s unique needs and characteristics. Most of the families have no personal vehicle, which means that the town must offer efficient public transportation, stores near residential areas and not at out-of-town shopping centers, and schools within walking distance. There are of course religious needs such as a porch for a sukkah for each home, low buildings without elevators because of the Sabbath and much public space allocated for synagogues.
It’s no secret that the housing crisis is acute among the ultra-Orthodox. Every year, some 40,000 ultra-Orthodox couples marry, the majority of them younger than 20, with only the funds they receive from their parents with which to find housing. As of today, an average ultra-Orthodox parent gives 50,000 shekels ($15,000) to each child (a couple thus has 100,000 shekels [$30,000] from both the groom’s and the bride’s sides). Considering that the price of an apartment in ultra-Orthodox areas is more than a million shekels ($300,000) and that an ultra-Orthodox family can’t live in a non-ultra-Orthodox neighborhood, the possibilities are very limited.
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