A Negev and Galilee you never imagined

Four young men from the center of the country have managed to achieve what generations of Israelis couldn’t: populating Israel’s outlying areas.

By YOCHEVED MIRIAM RUSSO
A bustling coffee shop in Beersheba’s Old City (photo credit: Courtesy)
A bustling coffee shop in Beersheba’s Old City
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Never underestimate the power of people with a dream and the will to bring it to fruition. A little over 15 years ago, four young Zionists growing up in Petah Tikva dreamed of doing something that would benefit Israel as a whole.
While most teenage dreams fall by the wayside, this one didn’t.
Today, the nonprofit, non-affiliated, organization they created stands poised to accomplish something generations of Israelis have talked about but never managed to pull off: populating the Negev and Galilee.
As a result of these young men’s vision and dedication, so far six new villages have been created and populated, with three more well on the way.
They’ve placed well over 4,600 families in Negev and Galilee homes; thousands more are moving through the pipeline.
In the last three years, at least 200,000 people have flocked to attend events sponsored by the Or Movement (Tnuat Or) in Beersheba’s Old City, seeing the city, and the Negev, in a way they’d never imagined before.
Official Israel has responded with gratitude.
Among the awards the four young initiators have racked up in the last few years are the President’s Volunteers Award (2006), the Knesset Speaker's Award for Quality of Life (2009) and the Prime Minister’s Award for Innovation and Initiatives last year.
Ofir Fisher, co-founder and now the movement’s vice president, recalls the early days.
“We were just kids, 16 and 17 years old, when we first started plotting how we could help Israel grow and flourish. We wanted something we could get personally involved with, something that would benefit the whole country. It wasn’t until we were in the army that we came up with something specific.”
Roni Flamer, another co-founder and today the movement’s CEO, picks up the story.
“During our army service, we spent six months traveling all over Israel, meeting and talking with hundreds of people. We were all officers, but based on what we’d seen and heard, we decided to forgo our positions and return to civilian life, believing we could make a greater contribution as civilians.
“We’d come to the conclusion that the future of Israel was in the Negev and Galilee. Our plan was to help and encourage settlement in Israel’s outlying areas.”
Fisher – the son of popular entertainer Dudu Fisher – recalls a 1999 meeting with then national infrastructure minister Ariel Sharon.
“For me, that meeting was key. Shortly after, we dedicated our lives to this project. We packed up and moved to the Negev, set up an office in an old army base – Sansana, near Meitar. We created our first community there.”
Sansana, originally founded as a Nahal outpost in 1997, wasn’t a welcoming place when the young men arrived.
“Back then, no one had any interest in Sansana.
No one wanted to live there, so first we had to create some interest,” Fisher recalls. “On Independence Day 1999, we dedicated the new village.
A few caravans remained from the old army days, and a core group of three families, plus two bachelors, moved in.
“Shortly after, in stage two, we added more caravans and 10 more families moved in. Today, 53 families live in this religious community, working as teachers, doctors, artists, social workers, serving in the IDF or running their own businesses in hitech, architecture and graphics. “Many built their own homes on 1.5-dunam lots. They enjoy everything a community needs – a clinic, children’s playground, a synagogue, mikve [ritual bath], culture room and library.”
“Sansana was our stage, our internship,” Fisher grins.
“We learned what we were doing when we started that one.” After cutting their teeth on Sansana, the young men moved on to create five more communities. “’Or’ in Hebrew means light,” Fisher notes. “We needed more light in the Negev. After Sansana, we built Merhav Am, Mitzpe Ilan, Haruv – now called ‘Eliav,’ Be’er Malka and Givot Bar. By this summer, 4,600 families will already have moved into the Negev or Galilee with our assistance, while another 12,600 families are in the process. “More than 30,000 families have contacted us for information and assistance in resettling in our target areas. We’ve created several dozen new projects, public and community buildings such as synagogues, day-care centers, parks and kindergartens. “What’s the goal? By 2020, we will have increased the population of the Negev and Galilee by 600,000, but the truth is, there’s no limit to what we can do if we just set our minds to it.” With Israel’s housing crisis dominating the headlines, the Or Movement’s message seems almost prophetic, the wisdom of focusing development on outlying areas obvious.
“The Negev and Galilee constitute over 70 percent of Israel’s land area, but contain less than 30% of the population. Developing those areas, directing settlement activities there, creating new towns and villages in what’s been called ‘the periphery’ makes solid sense. Major economic growth there will benefit the entire country.” With six villages up and running, three more are under way. In Karmit, just outside Beersheba, community buildings are under construction and home plots are being sold. Heiran, designated as a national religious community and located near Meitar, currently has 20 families living in caravans while their homes are being built.
Kasif, near Arad, designated as a haredi settlement, will initially include 10,000 apartments with an initial projected population of 50,000. Given the amount of land in the Negev, much of it open space lacking roads, water, trees or anything else that might appeal to new homeowners, how does the movement start to create a new village? “It’s simple,” Fisher smiles, implying that the opposite might be true. “First thing, you go to the government and get approval. Today there are more rules than when we started with Sansana. That was an old army base with a few caravans, but because the army had already created the community, different rules applied. “Well... after you secure government approval, you go to the organizational and planning committee, where you have to prove you have the people who want to live there. After that, it gets easier. Water comes from the national water carrier, they do it. It’s just a matter of laying pipes. Same thing with electricity. Those things aren’t big issues.
“Sansana was where we learned what families want in a community. After all, what did we know? We were all about 23 years old, single with no children. We were living on our savings, not worried about jobs right then. What did we know about day care centers or job opportunities? At that point, we were very different from the people we were trying to encourage to relocate to the Negev. “But as we progressed, we learned and began to understand the whole concept. We created the Negev and Galilee Information Center, where we collected and made available all the different kinds of information any family would need if they were thinking of relocating there.” Officially established as a nonprofit organization in 2002, the Or Movement was first headquartered in Sansana, then moved to the Omer Industrial Park, and now spreads out in the Bloomfield Family Gateway to the Negev, a recently renovated British Mandate building in Beersheba’s Old City. “The new Visitors Center is one of a kind in concept and state of the art in design,” Fisher notes. “What was needed, we decided, was a gate, one single place where anyone who was interested in the Negev would pass through. “Some visitors would be pure tourists, Israelis or people from abroad, on day trips or tour groups. Others [might be] interested in settlement, wondering if the Negev might prove suitable. In either case, people needed one place where they could get an overview of what the Negev offered, whether it was where to tour, or how to find a place to live.” What kind of people consider moving to the Negev? “To some extent, it’s evolving,” Fisher notes. “When we started in Sansana, the first families were idealists, people who were connected to the vision of the Negev, who wanted personal involvement in making it happen.
We still have families coming for idealistic reasons – mostly families, not too many singles yet. “But now the biggest response seems to be coming from people who are seeking a certain quality of life – and understand, ‘quality of life’ means something different to almost everyone who walks in. It divides into many things. For some, it’s a quality education for their children. For others, it’s open space – not just larger living quarters, but room to roam. Still others are looking at the lower cost of living in the Negev, as compared to other places.
“Beyond that, different kinds of people have special interests – we have new immigrants and long-time residents, religious and secular, employed and needing to commute, self-employed, retired, young couples, army personnel – the list is almost endless. “Within our organization, we have people in charge of each of these various kinds of populations, everything from ultra-Orthodox and English speakers to seed groups who want to live together and work jointly on some specific project. “We have information on everything from day care, synagogues, creative centers, employment, transportation, and obviously a lot of information on what the individual communities are like. Whatever their needs are, we accompany them A to Z, answer their questions about housing, culture, education, jobs, whatever is important to them.” Which demographic group shows the most interest? “Israelis,” says Mali Sandler Beker, the Or Movement’s Content and Research Manager. “Most inquiries come from people who are already living in Israel and want to relocate. So far this year, we’re had almost 7,000 inquiries, up over 50% from last year – and that’s families, not individuals. We’ve relocated 23,000 people already. “I’m involved with marketing and communication, outreach, looking for ways to bring this information to people who want it, whether they’re in Israel or still living abroad. “How do they find us? Through our website, our publications and newsletters. They usually end up with us because in most cases, our information is more up-todate than the government’s. Our objective is to create a trend – we want to be the place where people come to look for information when the idea strikes them. We want to show people what the Negev has to offer and help them consider their options.” In recent weeks, with protest tents sprouting all over Israel as people demanded lower-cost housing, it’s no surprise many found their way to the Beersheba Gateway building, wondering if life in the Negev might offer a viable alternative. “If cost is the issue, there’s no question that the country’s outlying areas offer better and more affordable housing – a lot more affordable,” says Beker. “A new house in the Negev or Galilee costs less than a three-room apartment in Modi’in. An apartment in central Israel costs at least twice as much as a similar home in southern or northern Israel – maybe a million shekels more. “So tell me: Where can you find a house with a garden in a community settlement, for the same price you’d pay for a small apartment in central Israel? In the Negev.”
“We did a study examining the cost of three- and fourroom apartments, with elevator and parking, in Israel’s ‘center’ cities: A three-room apartment in Tel Aviv’s Bavli neighborhood sold for about NIS 1.7 million, while a four-room apartment in Shikun Lamed was closer to NIS 2m. In Givatayim, on Afner Street, a four-room apartment costs approximately NIS 1.5m. In Kfar Saba’s Masa Yonatan Street, around NIS 1.4m., while in Ra’anana, a four-room apartment on Moshe Dayan Street sold for NIS 2m. “Jerusalem? A three-room apartment in Rehavia cost NIS 1.5m. “Now contrast all that with the city of Beersheba, where a three-room apartment in the Neveh Ze’ev neighborhood – one of the city’s nicest – costs NIS 540,000! In Beersheba, for a million shekels – less than the price of a three-room apartment in Kfar Saba – you can buy a fiveroom detached house in Beersheba’s elegant new Ramot neighborhood.”
Outside the city of Beersheba, deeper into the Negev, the options are even more attractive. Planned for some 1,500 homes, over 230 families already live in the recently renamed Eliav, an elegant Or Movement village. Each family purchased a 500-meter lot for NIS 250,000 and built a very high-standard, 200-meter home for about NIS 1 million. Total: NIS 1.25 million for a large luxury home. Go beyond that, to one of Israel’s designated “development towns,” and find even greater bargains. Not only are the housing costs much lower, tax benefits extended to residents could amount to tens of thousands of shekels per family per year. But cost isn’t the only factor drawing people to the Negev, Beker says. “Quality of life – however you define it – is the biggest draw. Having a much bigger home, a yard for kids to play in, room to run around, good schools, convenient shopping, those things matter, too.”
What’s the biggest concern for potential residents? “Employment. We’re working with many companies that are considering relocating here, too – hi-tech companies, computer firms, businesses of all kinds. Many big employers are here already: Intel, Teva, ICL, Makhteshim Agan, Vishay and Netafim. “But more big new companies are moving in – ECI and Tara are transferring some of their operations down south, in addition to several new industrial parks in Beersheba, Lehavim and Netivot. That’s all in addition to the IDF bases, which will be moving down here shortly.
Employment prospects are looking up all the time.” “Grants and tax benefits are a big draw to firms who relocate here,” says Dikla Siso, Or’s director of employment and enterprise. “Two things concern any business considering relocation: first, the cost of moving; and second, whether there will be a pool of good employees. What the Or Movement does is simplify the process for them. We have information on government grants and tax benefits for moving to National Priority Areas such as the Negev and Galilee. There’s also help available in training and subsidizing salaries that makes the move attractive. “We work with the business’s employees in facilitating the move – everything from helping them find housing to finding employment for spouses. Right now we’re working with two giant corporations, Deutsche Telekom and EMC, both of which have announced the opening of research and development centers in the Negev. Those two, with the addition of the Beersheba science and technology parks which will open at the end of the year, will attract many other companies to come, too. “All of which means not just an economic boost for the region in general, but jobs for current and potential residents.” Will the new high-speed trains to Tel Aviv improve employment possibilities as well? “Yes and no,” Beker says. “It’s mixed. Trains run in both directions. We’re not really looking for people to work here, then go home to Tel Aviv. We’re looking for people who want to live here and help us create wonderful communities right here.”
In 2005, three years after its founding, the Or Movement drafted its first strategic plan, outlining not just its goals and objectives but also identifying its target populations. “We have a long list of target populations – Englishspeakers for one, ultra-Orthodox for another; army personnel, young couples and families, plus several core groups with their own individual visions,” says Fisher, noting that the results set the Or Movement off in an additional direction. “We realized if we wanted to attract young people and young families to the Negev, we needed to expand the number and kinds of cultural events people enjoy. We began focusing on Beersheba’s Old City as an ideal spot for our involvement. “We teamed up with the City of Beersheba, the Ness Foundation and others to work toward renewing the Old City, encouraging all kinds of entrepreneurs to open businesses there – restaurants, bars, trendy clothing stores, galleries, and more. “Today, Beersheba’s Old City is a top destination, a place with both day and evening activities that attract young people from all over the country. “In 2010, the Old City hosted over 130 cultural events, bringing in more than 75,000 people. The Smilansky Festival offered three days of performing arts that brought 6,000 students to Beersheba and filled the streets for days. Then there was the Beersheba Beer Festival, which brought in another 10,500 people, many of them to hear some of Israel’s most famous bands and performers. “In the last three years, these kinds of events attracted over 200,000 people to the Old City. And what did each of those 200,000 people see? That the Negev has a lot to offer, both to tourists and to those who might like to move here. “Look what’s happened – five years ago, no one wanted to live in the Old City. Now everyone does.” Core groups are another Or Movement project, formed by groups of singles, couples and young families who organize themselves for joint rental or purchase of land or houses for some common purpose. Although saving money might be one of the objectives, another attraction is the communal lifestyle, “someone to have coffee with at the end of the day,” as one resident phrased it. “During the last decade, a stream of young families and couples have moved toward shared community life, getting away from the alienation of Israel’s bigger cities,” observes Giora Sadeh, the Or Movement’s core group relocation coordinator. “People want to change their lifestyles – they talk about it with friends and family, and pretty soon there’s a core group of people, 20 to 30 families, who want to live differently. They come to us because they don’t know where to start, what they should do or where to begin. “We offer a structured and organized framework to guide them. We help the group decide exactly what they want, how much they want to spend, where they want to be – the distance from families, usually – then help them find a location. The process takes between one and two years. “In 2010, we helped seven different core groups find their new homes. Altogether, we’ve placed 23 such groups. We call it our “Project 70 Lights” because by Israel’s 70th birthday, we want to have facilitated the relocation of 70 core groups – about 1,500 families, 6,000 people – all over the Negev and Galilee.” One example is the new community at Retamim Village, under the Ramat Negev Regional Council.
Organized four years ago, the group took over the old secular Kibbutz Retamim property. Now, as a new religiously observant village, it absorbs members from all over Israel. Twenty families were absorbed in 2010, making a total of 50 families, with over 100 children.
Ultimately, Retamim will house 300 families. Even film fans have a core group, the “movie producers” enterprise at Bror Hayil. These entrepreneurs joined an existing kibbutz near Sderot. Most are graduates of the Department of Cinematography in the Sapir Academic College in Sderot who wanted to work together to build film studios and develop the movie industry in the western Negev. By the end of 2011, Sadeh says, an additional 11 core groups will be in place. The big projects – creating new communities – remain a prime focus. Karmit is a classic, an enormously complex undertaking currently being built next to Meitar, 15 minutes from Beersheba, an hour from Tel Aviv. Karmit will ultimately be home to 2,500 families. “Karmit is open to the general public,” says Fisher.
“Our goal is to include one-third English speakers in the population mix. Over 160 families have signed up already, and we’re finishing construction on 400 lots.
The synagogue and day-care center are already under construction. A kindergarten, mikve, youth center, library and fitness center will follow. Homes will be constructed in 2012; and in 2013, when people move in, it will be entirely finished and ready. “Karmit scored the Negev’s finest location,” Fisher says.
“It’s right next to the Kramim Forest Reserve and has absolutely fantastic views over the whole northern Negev. It’s open to new immigrants and native Israelis, religious and secular, and promises a strong social net, with a wide range of opportunities for cultural development. “Education is a priority. With some 55 educational facilities nearby, preschool through university, the residents will have a lot of choices.” Any project the size of Karmit has a number of partners who helped bring it into existence. In addition to the Or Movement, the Jewish Agency, the Jewish National Fund of both the US and UK, Keren Kayemet Le’Israel, the Construction and Housing Ministry, the Israel Lands Authority, the Development of the Negev and Galilee Ministry, Immigrant Absorption Ministry, Nefesh B’Nefesh, John Hagee Ministries, the Meitar Local Council and hundreds of private donors all contributed to the venture. “Karmit is the product of the shared vision of a lot of people and organizations,” Fisher notes. “As with all our projects, there’s a lot of teamwork involved.” Last June 12, the Or Movement pulled off another major event. With the heady announcement, “We did it!,” it succeeded in bringing Italian opera tenor Andrea Bocelli to Israel to sing – and not just to sing, but to put on a full-scale performance at Masada. “That was as complex a project as building a whole new town,” smiles CEO Flamer, “but it was absolutely necessary. What’s critical to understand about this whole objective of populating the Negev and the Galilee is that it isn’t just about building houses and establishing new towns. It’s about making a complete change in the national t h o u g h t process. “It took us three years to bring off B o c e l l i ’ s inc r edibl e p e r f o r m - ance at Masada that night, and right up to performance time, I kept hearing, ‘What’s the deal? What’s with Italian opera and Masada? So Andrea Bocelli has sold 65 million records – what does his performing at Masada do to help develop the Negev?’ “The answer is simple,” Flamer says. “It’s all about connections. We need to connect as many people as possible to the Israeli, Jewish, Zionist mission. We need to renew old values with a modern touch. We need to connect with young adults – people our own age – to encourage them to take part in this grand mission, the development of Israel’s outlying areas. We need to aim high and bring everyone we possibly can along with us – and that includes Andrea Bocelli and opera fans the world over. “It means bringing Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer down here to see what we’re doing, it means putting on fundraising events on Broadway, it means keeping up the flow of business owners, artists and actors, Knesset members, ambassadors, film-makers, tourists and everyone else we can find to come here, see what we’re doing, and become part of the action.”
Successful as it was, the Bocelli concert on Masada had another beneficial result: the funds raised were earmarked for the completion of the flagship Visitors Center, the Bloomfield Family Gateway to the Negev.
“The business office on the building’s second floor has been up and running for several months,” Fisher says during a tour, noting that the Or Movement receives no government funds and runs entirely on philanthropy. “What we hadn’t finished was the first floor, the part of the building plan designated for tourists, where everyone starts. Thanks to the success at Masada, we’re moving ahead again now.”
The ground-floor tourist center will constitute a tourist attraction in its own right. “The total tour will take 45 minutes. Everyone begins at the ground-floor entry, then passes through a series of interactive spaces, including a 360-degree surround film. Visitors will learn about the Negev in three stages – past, present and future – ending with a grand call to action. “Tourists might end there; but for those who want more, who think the Negev might hold the key to their own futures, will be invited upstairs to the business center, where we offer every kind of practical help anyone would need in making a decision to relocate to the Negev. They can meet with our staffers and discuss whatever issues interest them. “After that, they can relax in the courtyard and talk it over. If they decide they want to relocate, we’re at their service as long as they need us – years, if that’s what it takes.” Beersheba residents recall the Old City Visitors Center as it used to be, the abandoned eyesore at Hagana and Negba streets. Consisting of little more than crumbling Beersheba stone interspersed with broken windows, the two lofty floors appeared to house only birds and an occasional vagrant. The concrete steps had crumbled away, while fallen rubble, litter and weeds filled the outside areas. “We bought the building from the City of Beersheba and started renovations in 2009,” Fisher recalls. “When we first walked in, it was unbelievable. By any standard, it was the worst building in all of Beersheba. It was built during the 1930s, under the British Mandate, and had been used for several things, but when we got it, it had been vacant for seven years. “An unimaginable amount of junk had accumulated – we hauled out 30-40 tons of debris, everything you can imagine. The ground floor was a network of tiny rooms and shower stalls – it had last been used as a haredi education building, and before that it had been a girls’ institution. “Originally the structure had been two separate houses which, at some point, were combined. The top floor is all an addition, not part of the original building. “But look at the good points here, the graceful arches and big rooms. We ripped out all the unstable material inside and rebuilt it with steel and concrete. When it’s done, it will be equipped with state-of-the-art technology, multimedia, a 360-degree film with sound, lighting, video and other interactive and special effects. “Visitors will be able to see for themselves how the Negev looked during its ancient past, then take a few steps and see it as it is now; then step into the future to see the potential, what’s just around the corner.”
There’s the common thread: taking ugly, wasted, unwanted spaces and turning them into highly desirable places to live and work. “That’s right. Back in 1948, at the beginning of statehood, the Negev was virtually uninhabited. Many people thought it was incapable of being cultivated. But [first prime minister] David Ben-Gurion knew that if the state was going to thrive, it needed the Negev. “So here we are, 60 years later, and there’s been progress; but even so, the Negev still suffers from a negative image among both locals and the general public.
Too many people see it as a remote, desolate and neglected place with nothing to offer. That’s the image we need to change. We need to promote the Negev as a place of opportunity, a place that offers a high quality of life, however you define it.”
There are other issues, such as the rocket attacks on the western Negev. “Today that’s more of an image problem than anything else. It’s something people ask about,” says Fisher.
“Another is, ‘What about the Beduin?’ People wonder whether the unauthorized encampments don’t constitute a problem. “I’m not saying these things aren’t issues. They need to be dealt with, but it’s not something that affects daily life. It doesn’t prevent anyone from moving here.” What’s not an “image” issue is that rental housing, even in the Negev, is scarce. “I live in Yeroham now,” CEO Flamer says. “It took me four months to find a place to rent. There just isn’t rental housing anywhere – even the development towns are full. And the cost – NIS 1,500 to NIS 2,000 in a development town is unbelievable! “Granted, for the most part we build single-family homes. Most are owner-occupied, but we agree that rental housing is something else that’s desperately needed. “What everyone needs to realize is that housing doesn’t come into existence instantly. It takes time. You have to start well before you need it. We have housing to offer right now, but not nearly enough. “At the moment, we’re arranging for 8,000 people to move to the Negev and Galilee – but that’s a tiny fraction of the number who want to come. Planning costs money and takes 10 to 20 months. We’ve got to get started. In the next three years, we’ll need 200,000 more housing units in the Negev and Galilee. It can be done, but not without effort.
Fisher emphasizes that the Or Movement doesn’t exist to just build houses. “It’s about creating a vision, a concept that will attract, interest and challenge the younger generation and connect them to the State of Israel. Right now, [Israelis] are losing that vision. But if we can bring together the religious and secular, the Right and the Left, Jews from abroad and those born here, we can join everyone around one flag again. “So there are the goals for the next decade: Bring 600,000 new residents to the Negev and Galilee and, in the process, unite Israelis through the common effort.”

The Or Movement: www.or1.org.il, tel. (08) 629-9000; fax (08) 629-9010; 30 Hahagana Street, Beersheba 84211.