The Knesset Finance Committee on Thursday approved the transfer of 400 million shekels ($117 million) to former business owners who were evacuated from the Gush Katif settlement bloc in Gaza in 2005. Nine thousand Israeli residents of the Gaza Strip and parts of northern Samaria were evacuated from their homes in 2005 as part of Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement. As a result, many agricultural and commercial business owners were forced to rebuild their businesses from the ground up. Coalition chairman MK Zeev Elkin (Likud) drafted a bill to increase compensation to business owners who were forced to evacuate during the disengagement, claiming that business owners' investments in the region were not completely covered since their evacuation. The committee approved the proposed legislation in second and third readings, while the bill is scheduled to come up for a vote this week at the Knesset plenum. According to the proposed legislation, business owners would receive an additional 11.5 percent of the original compensation they received in 2005. Land owners were given the option of receiving monetary compensation or additional property. As part of the deal, community leaders from Gush Katif and business owners would be required to forego any additional compensation, be it private, public, communal or commercial.
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שיתוף כתבה
Gush Katif evacuees granted additional NIS 400 million
MK Zeev Elkin drafts bill to increase compensation to business owners who were forced to evacuate during the disengagement • Proposed legislation would give business owners an additional 11.5 percent of the compensation they received in 2005.