Local authorities in northern Israel are tired of the government ignoring the war that has been going on for seven months on the border with Lebanon, the 80,000 residents who are still evacuated from their homes with no prospect of when they'll return home, and the foot-dragging in passing the budget promised by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for strengthening and restoring the north and the plan that will accompany it.
At a meeting of the members of the Confrontation Line Forum, it was decided to announce on Independence Day the establishment of the State of Galilee and a unilateral disengagement from the State of Israel. This extreme step will be accompanied by additional actions that they are planning.
The straw that broke the camel's back was the prime minister's answer at the cabinet meeting to a question by Benny Gantz, as reported by N12. Gantz wondered if the residents would return to their homes on September 1, for the start of the school year, and Netanyahu replied, "What the worst that will happen if they return a few months after September 1?"
Netanyahu's words aroused great anger among the residents and the heads of the local authorities, and they decided to take off their gloves and fight for their home. The current step comes after the members of the Forum published protest ads in early April, in which they launched a public tender to find the Israeli government. "A public tender to find a government in Israel!", the ad reads. "The Conflict Line Forum hereby calls for proposals to be submitted for an alternative government in Israel as detailed in the tender documents."
They also added that "the full details of the tender can be found in the evacuated hotels and the accommodation apartments of the displaced throughout the country, with the business owners who collapsed in the north, in the dead tourism areas in the north, and in the offices of the local authorities in the north." The Confrontation Line Forum then mentioned that the government committed to transfer NIS 3.5 billion to the north a few months ago, and added in the margin: "The tender guarantee: in the amount of NIS 3.5 billion."
In parallel with this activity, demonstrations by the evacuated residents of the north are planned for May 16 in Jerusalem and Haifa, declaring "no to a political agreement with Hezbollah", and calling for the restoration of security through military operations.
"This is a battle that we must fight together," wrote the organizers, "a fight for our freedom, our honor, and the future of our children. We, the people of the north, will not be silent." Thousands have joined the WhatsApp groups opened for the purpose and intend to participate in them.
Northern leader: We will vomit out the government from within us
On Thursday, Moshe Davidovitch, the head of the Mateh Asher Regional Council and chairman of the Confrontation Line Forum, expressed outrage at the government's handling of the situation in the north, telling Army Radio, "The soul of the public in the north has been torn apart by the lack of action. From now on we will stop listening to the government, we will run as an independent country and act independently without a state. There is no choice - the institutions are not functioning; we will vomit out the government from within us."
In comments to Calcalist on Thursday, Davidovitch stressed that his approach is accepted by all the heads of local authorities in northern Israel. The local leader said that the last time Netanyahu met with local authorities from the north was in January, when the prime minister promised them that they would be presented with a plan within ten days. According to Davidovitch, five months later, they still haven't seen such a plan.
"I won't say what we will do because we decided to create a surprise," added Davidovitch. "I don't know if we will really succeed in making this dysfunctional government wake up, but we will certainly create a meaningful wave of impact. We intend to create an active operation that will make it clear to the government that just as it has disconnected from us, we will disconnect from it."
The local authority head stressed that "if the local governments had an army, we might have carried out a military operation."