On Sunday, the cabinet is expected to approve the plans of Housing and Construction Minister Ze’ev Elkin to authorize the construction of a new city for the Chareidi population which will be called Kassif and located in the heart of the Negev.

Previously, Chareidi political leaders were against the establishment of the city, whose purpose is to alleviate some of the housing crisis facing the Chareidi population of Israel, as they felt that young Chareidi couples will not move there.

The plan is to have the initial plans approved within the next 30 days and continue the process of issuing construction tenders for builders in the city. However, it will still take up to two years for construction to begin, and even longer for the first apartments to be habitable.

Among the factors that will be prohibitive for young Chareidi families to move to the new city will be the lack of jobs in the region, and the difficulties that will be entailed with setting up businesses and stores due to the lack of infrastructure.

The government’s plan is to set up a separate municipal government for the new city which will be able to provide all of the necessary services for the Chareidi populace that will be encouraged to move there. This will include the provision of services in the fields of education, religion, health, social welfare, and other municipal services. This will in turn allow for an easier acclimation to the area and more jobs created once the city is functional.

The original plan to build a Chareidi city in the middle of the Negev arose during the Premiership of Ehud Olmert between the years of 2007-2009. In 2010 the Housing and Construction Ministry began evaluating whether or not it would be feasible to build such a city. In 2013, the government accepted the decision to move forward with the project.

It is expected that by 2040, approximately 20 percent of the population of Israel will be Chareidi. This is according to a report by the Chareidi Institute for political studies. The report stated that the country will need nearly 200,000 new housing units for Chareidi families by that time. In 2019, the Construction Ministry issued a report that said that the national committee for economy and planning would permit the construction of at least 50 percent of that need, with the rest of the families expected to find solutions in the housing framework that already exists.

The city of Kassif is expected to have some 20,000 new housing units for the Chareidi population and will comprise 10% of the solution to the current crisis. When Kassif is finished, it is expected to house a population of between 100,000 and 125,000 Chareidi people, making it one of the largest Chareidi cities in the country.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)