rime Minister's Office Director-General Ra'anan Dinur at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, held a briefing to mark three years since the implementation of the Disengagement Plan (http://tinyurl.com/8zypm).  He gave updated data on the situation of the evacuees from the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria.  Construction and Housing Ministry Director-General Dr. Haim Fialkov, SELA Disengagement Authority Director Tzvia Shimon, Israel Lands Administration Director-General Yaron Bibi and Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry Deputy Director-General Yossi Yishai also attended the briefing.
 
SELA Disengagement Authority data indicates that approximately NIS 8 billion has been invested in the disengagement process and the rehabilitation of the evacuees thus far.  This includes Defense Ministry costs, compensation funds, investment in infrastructure and social assistance designed to maintain family and communal life to which the residents are accustomed.
 
As a lesson from the evacuation of Yamit (http://tinyurl.com/5ro9gp) and on the basis of studies conducted among the Yamit evacuees, the Government is allowing interested residents to maintain communal cohesion by establishing new communities or joining existing communities.  Any group of at least 20 eligible families may request to take part in the relevant agreement, which entitles it to a new community or a separate neighborhood in the expansion of an existing community.
 
PMO Dir.-Gen. Dinur: “Moving communities, as determined in the Disengagement Law, is the impetus for adjustment that puts the welfare of the evacuees above everything.  Most of the SELA Disengagement Authority’s resources are directed to advancing communal solutions.  Today, three years after the disengagement, there is a solution for every resident.  Our data indicates that 72% of the families evacuated from the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria have already realized the solution that was given to them in the framework of moving communities.”
 
Some of the evacuees who received plots of land from the State have already begun to build permanent homes.  This includes the residents of Nitzanim, who constitute 13% of the eligible families.  The last of these agreed only recently to proceed to the implementation of the lotteries for plots (even though they could have done so one year ago) in September.  Immediately afterwards, the residents will be able to start building their permanent homes.  Similarly, the SELA Disengagement Authority estimates that several hundred young people will be able to purchase plots near their payments, without tender and over several payments.
 
Approximately NIS 3 million has been invested in compensation, and temporary and permanent residences, for each family.  The SELA Disengagement Authority is working to implement the agreement with MKs on additional compensation and special grants, at an overall cost of NIS 640 million.
 
Among the additional benefits that have been added are: Grants of up to NIS 185,000 for eligible families that owned homes; grants of up to NIS 140,000 to all those who were 18 on the day of evacuation and who intended to build homes in the communities in which they lived; grants for children who younger than 3 at the time of evacuation; adjustment expenses for an additional period for evacuees who have yet to become integrated in the labor market, and additional grants.  SELA Disengagement Authority Director Shimon: “After three years of intensive effort, including the close accompanying of the evacuees and preparing infrastructures throughout the country, the evacuees have received most of the compensation due to them, as well as the tools and infrastructure to build their homes anew.  A small group of a few dozen families remains, who are delaying the rehabilitation process for reasons that are not clear to us.  I call on those families to come to the Authority, sign agreements and embark on a new path.  The foundations have already been laid, despite opposition, and I hope that we are on the verge of a year marked by accelerated construction.”
 
Gaza Strip farmers
 
Today, three years after the disengagement, approximately 80 out of the 160 landowners who were active as farmers in Gush Katif have established new farms on rented land or on alternative land they received from the State.  Approximately 100 farmers are due to receive land in the coming year.
 
SELA Disengagement Authority data indicates that, as of now, the average Gush Katif farmer has received, directly or indirectly, compensation up to NIS 5 million for his plot of land.  Agriculture professionals believe that the compensation and grants allow for the establishment of new greenhouses on a greater scale than the same farmer had in Gush Katif.  Prior to evacuation, Gush Katif farmers leased approximately 32,000 dunams of land outside Gush Katif and 5,400 dunams were allocated within Gush Katif (upon which were built 4,500 dunams of greenhouses).  After evacuation, Gush Katif farmers continue to lease 32,000 dunams outside Gush Katif (mostly in the Eshkol Regional Council area) and, in compensation for the lands in Gush Katif, the farmers received approximately 13,000 dunams inside the State of Israel (7,400 dunams have already been delivered and over 6,000 additional dunams will be delivered in the coming months).  Today, Gush Katif farmers lease approximately 45,000 dunams, as opposed to approximately 37,400 dunams prior to evacuation.
 
Additionally, Gush Katif landowners who were actively engaged in agriculture are eligible to receive, from the State, subsidized alternative land (of up to 40 dunams).  The cost to the State is over NIS 700,000 per plot.  If the same farmer elects to continue in agriculture, he is eligible for various grants of up to several hundred thousand shekels.
 
Moving to national priority areas
 
In order to meet residents’ requests, the Government is advancing approximately 24 residence points, from the Golan Heights to the Halutzot communities in the western Negev.  Over 80% of Gush Katif evacuees will build their permanent homes in the south of the country.  Seven new communities have been built, and five existing communities have been expanded, from Amatzia in the Lachish Regional Council area to the Halutzot communities.  755 Gush Katif evacuee families are now in the south and several hundred young people are due to buy land there.
 
In addition to infrastructure construction assistance, the SELA Disengagement Authority is investing major resources in social and personal assistance to the evacuees, including to families, individuals, young people and soldiers.  As of today, the Government has made 16 decisions on social and educational assistance, at an overall cost of NIS 100 million.