JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Tuesday allocations of 13 billion shekels (more than $4.5 billion) to secure and develop northern communities along the Lebanon border, battered by weeks of fire from Iran-backed Hezbollah.
“The government made dramatic decisions today to strengthen the north. We are investing more than 13 billion shekels today, in addition to the seven billion we have already provided — a total of 20 billion shekels going to the communities of the north,” Netanyahu said following the government’s approval of the measure.
The package, dubbed a “mega-plan” by Netanyahu’s office, consists of three separate decisions.
The first will see the deployment of 1,800 new protective shelters in public spaces such as bus stops, shopping centers and parks, as well as the renovation of around 500 existing shelters, to shield residents from incoming rockets and drones.
The second decision allocates subsidies for the construction of safe rooms inside homes for residents living within nine kilometers (5.6 miles) of the Lebanon border, while the third aims to develop the area in order to attract 100,000 new residents, by improving health, transport, education and tourism infrastructure as well as job opportunities.
