Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on Sunday night with the heads of northern local councils in Hezbollah’s line of fire to discuss a plan to return displaced Israelis to their homes and compensate them and their communities.
Netanyahu instructed the directors general of the Prime Minister’s Office and the Finance Ministry to meet with the regional heads in order to bridge the “minor remaining gaps” and present him with an agreed-upon plan that will be submitted for government approval later this week.
“In the end, the revival and the momentum of the northern border depend on security. The sense of security depends on security. …I am not going to tell Hezbollah what we are going to do, I will not share with our sworn enemy the dates and how exactly we are going to do it,” Netanyahu told the local leaders.
“With stratagems you will make peace and security, and war as well. We are committed to restoring security and we will do it. At the moment we are solving the issues you have raised. If we do all these things, the north will flourish. This is going to happen in the south and in the north as well,” he added.
Last month, the PMO presented a $1.75 billion program to rehabilitate and develop evacuated communities near the northern border “confrontation line” with Lebanon during a meeting with local council heads.
PMO Director General Yossi Shelley said the “Northward” program would provide relief in the areas of security, community and societal cohesion, economic development and strengthening northern municipalities.
Jerusalem has promised that the approximately 80,000 citizens who live up to 5.5 miles from the northern border will not be asked to return home “until security is established” and Hezbollah is pushed back from the border.
As of last month, some 21,000 Israeli evacuees from northern border communities remain in hotels across the country.
