Today the government was set to make changes to the list of towns included in the list of "areas of national priority". Some towns would be removed, while others would be included.

Being included in the list of "areas of national priority" means residents of the town receive benefits in the areas of housing, infrastructure, education, culture and defense, taxes and others.

The big news being mentioned by the various outlets, especially the Haredi outlets, is that 2 Haredi towns are being removed from the list, while 15 settlements are being included in the list. The 2 Haredi towns being removed from the list are Beitar Ilit and Harish. In addition to the 2 Haredi towns being removed, some non-Haredi towns are also being removed...

I have no problem with Beitar being removed - Beitar is now a town of 40,000 people with complete infrastructure and very little new construction (unfortunately). The government does not need to give incentives to people to move to Beitar. It is attractive in its own right.

Harish, on the other hand, should be included in the list of priority. The government is building a practically brand new city, and it should be included in order to make it more attractive and to entice people to buy and move there.

It should be noted that not all Haredi towns have been removed from the list - I did a brief search and see that Modiin Ilit is in the list, and the news is not saying that town is being removed...

At the same time, 15 towns are now being included in the list, some of which are closely associated with Habayit Hayehudi. The full list has over 600 towns that receive different levels of benefits and stimulus packages to attract residents.

That is the benefit of being close to the pie. The Haredi parties know that very well, as well as any other political party, which is why they made sure to be close to the pie for so long. It did not work out this time.

It is unfortunate that Harish is being removed. The government should really include it to make Harish especially attractive to buyers.

One additional point, the Prime Minister said at the opening of the Cabinet meeting this morning that beyond the list of towns being approved, Jerusalem will be included as well - Jerusalem will always be given national priority and will receive the same and more benefits that any of the other towns get. He said whatever will be decided today for the other towns will also automatically apply also to Jerusalem!