If there are no last minute snarls, the new chareidi community of Charish is moving ahead, with the national planning board approving 1,000 dunam (250 acres) to get the project up-and-running. 27,000 housing units are planned in the first decade of the community, and the Housing Ministry is seeking formal approval of 5,000 dunam to permit long-term planning.

According to R’ Chaim Schwartz, a member of the planning board, sale of plots should get underway after this coming Shavuos. Schwartz told Kol Chareidi he hopes the first families will be moving in at the end of 5772.

Schwartz reports the prices will be very attractive since the price of land in the area is almost nothing, usually a major component of the cost factor. Schwartz explains that Charish will be the largest chareidi community, and he thanks Deputy Minister R’ Meir Porush, who he credits with pushing through the necessary permits to move the project forward.

The community will be situated in the Nachal I’ron (Wadi Ara) area, which today is home to Israeli Arabs, and the community will be surrounded by Arab municipalities. It will be located near the Highway 6 exit in the area, a significant plus regarding an access road to the area. Schwartz explains that with the Route 6 Highway nearby, travel from Modi’in Illit and Betar will not take more than one hour.

Some predict housing prices will not be more than half the price of equivalent housing in other major chareidi communities.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)