We are opposed to the entry of the hassidim of Toldos Ahron into our city [of Harish]. This is a consolidated and separatist group that cannot find its place in this city. The Haredim in town will be hurt the most from their entry.

  -- Mayor of Harish Yitzchak Keshet

note - Keshet is haredi (baal teshuva) himself

obviously this statement upset people in the haredi


community who asked if you can stop them from living in your city (if it is even possible), what is to stop others from saying the same things about any other haredi group and stopping haredim form living in their cities...

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!

By now you all must know that the main bids by Haredi purchase groups for plots in Harish were disqualified, due to a form of price-fixing. The disqualification of the Haredi purchase groups means the government is going to be taking in 113 million NIS less than they would have had the Haredi groups won the tenders.

Yaki Resiner, VP of Z. Landau Contractors and Engineers, told Globes that "The government gave up NIS 113 million so that Harish won't be haredi. Contractors can now sell apartments for less, even with a 15% profit. The question is whether haredim will forget about the prices promised them all these years, and will buy apartments from the contractors. With the grants offered to Harish homebuyers, the final price won't be far from the prices offered by the charities."

I would tend to disagree with the first part of that statement. The government, as far as I can make out, did not give up all that money so that Harish would not become Haredi. That is a seemingly absurd statement. harish was designed by the government to be a haredi town. The fact that some non-Haredi groups wanted to take advantage of cheap prices and buy sections of Harish does not change the fact that the original intention was for Harish to be Haredi.

Globes continues and says:

"Since the disqualification of the haredi charities, secular buyers groups have been in talks with the winning contractors. An example is the buyers group Our Harish, organized by Assaf Hovra and Israel Avital. Hovra told "Globes", "We're in talks with the winning contractors, and we'll close a deal with the contractor who offers us the best price. The contractors will sell to us, the general public, and not to the haredim for the simple reason that we have stronger purchasing power."
Hovra added, "We've have dozens of calls from people who were sitting on the fence, and realized after the results of the tenders that it is worthwhile buying in Harish because it won't be a haredi town, but a town for the general public"

I am sorry, but "dozens of phone calls from people" sitting on the fence is not going to sell 5000 apartments in Harish. It might sell a few dozen, or even a couple hundred, but it is not going to sell 5000.

The various non-Haredi leaders and groups need to stop complaining about the Haredim buying houses. When they buy houses in new neighborhoods of existing cities, people complain. When they buy homes in old neighborhoods of existing cities, people complain. And now, when they buy homes in new cities being built for Haredim people complain.

The non-Haredim have every right to mobilize and buy hundreds, or thousands, of houses in Harish, or in Ahisamach, or in Ashqelon, or in Bet Shemesh or anywhere else apartments are being built. Instead of continuously complaining about haredim buying houses at cheap prices, the non-Haredim should study how the haredim have been able to successfully keep prices low and mobilize thousands of buyers, and then they should do the same.

I can see it now. When Harish will be populated with 45oo Haredi families and 500 non-Haredi, all the same groups will complain that the haredim took over. Because the non-Haredim only had "dozens of phone calls".

You want a large number of cheap housing units where your people can live? Mobilize young couples and get them to be interested in Harish, or in one of any other building project around the country.