The first imported mobile homes authorized by the government will arrive within two months, Housing Minister Ariel Sharon told the Cabinet on Sunday.
The first shipment of 1,000 units will be followed by another 4,000 by the end of the year.
Many are not intended for immigrants, but Israelis rendered homeless by soaring rents.
The government authorized imports in the amount of $500 million, a far cry from Sharon’s call for a $3 billion crash program to import tens of thousands of mobile and prefabricated houses over the next several years.
The government has also authorized the construction of 45,000 apartments. Most of them will be built in Galilee and the Negev.
An Israel Defense Force officer told the Cabinet that a review of the army’s housing stock showed that the Israel Defense Force has the potential to provide living quarters for many more than the 5,000 immigrants it originally thought it could house.
Meanwhile, Sharon urged world Jewry to contribute more to the absorption of immigrants in Israel. He was joined by Absorption Minister Yitzhak Peretz and the deputy minister, Geula Cohen.
Peretz, an independent member of the Knesset originally from the Shas party, and Cohen, of the right-wing Tehiya, insist that the government, not the Jewish Agency, should lead the campaign among world Jewry to contribute to aliyah.
Jewish Agency Chairman Simcha Dinitz, however, rejected their insinuation that the agency is not mobilizing Diaspora Jews sufficiently to help Israel absorb immigrants. The Jewish Agency is the chief beneficiary of funds raised in the United States by the United Jewish Appeal and elsewhere by Keren Hayesod.
Pledges have increased considerably, Dinitz said. He agreed it was possible to raise more funds from Diaspora Jews, but only if they are convinced that a national emergency exists in Israel.
Justice Minister Dan Meridor estimated it would cost Israel $1 billion to absorb another million Jews. In his view, it is not enough to raise money overseas. He emphasized the need to encourage Jewish business leaders to invest in the local economy.
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