"The government needs to find solutions for displaced residents from our municipality," lamented Moshe Davidovich, the head of the Mateh Asher Regional Council in the western Galilee on Sunday, expressing his despair and frustration over the ongoing crisis facing the residents near Israel's borders.
A week ago, the security department of the Upper Galilee Regional Council and Mateh Asher Regional Council informed the residents that "according to the instructions of security authorities, residents whose presence is not required in the settlement are asked to find alternative accommodation solutions outside the area."
It was also written: "You are requested to prepare a bag for an extended stay - clothes, toiletries, chargers." In addition, residents of the Mateh Asher Regional Council were also asked to leave their homes. On the other hand, the residents of Shlomi were called to stay and were told there was no need to evacuate.
In a candid conversation with journalist Reno Tzror on Army Radio, Davidovich detailed the harrowing reality for these displaced residents, who have been evacuated from areas like Hanita, Admit, Zrait, and Shtula. Davidovich, still mourning the loss of young lives and soldiers from his regional council, urgently stressed the need for governmental support, stating, "We are asking the government to tell them that these residents are in over a week outside their homes. We need to bring them solutions; we can't continue like this."
'They finance themselves, they provide for themselves'
As the residents of the South bear the financial burdens of their displacement, Davidovich criticized the government's apparent inaction: "They finance themselves, they provide for themselves," he remarked, highlighting the severe overdrafts many residents now face. He further commented, "Because someone thinks that the citizens here are transparent and can finance themselves for a period of time that no one knows when it will end..."
The perilous security situation in the evacuated settlements was another pressing concern for Davidovich. He painted a grim picture: "If you come to Hanita right now or to Admit, and will see that the army is dispersed immensely. There are grenades in every sight, explosives. God forbid a child will take a grenade, thinking it’s a tennis ball."
Addressing the weaponry and preparedness of settlements, Davidovich observed some progress but insisted on more. "In my council alone there are hundreds of officers from combat units, aged 50+ who want to defend the settlements," he said, urging that they be properly equipped.