Verde Jericho (Rose of Jericho), a hilltop settlement overlooking the Jordan Valley, has been abandoned by the 40 families whose home it was for the past six years. The reason: bankruptcy.
Financial woes piled one atop the other until the moshav was unable to function. “It is the end of Zionism,” one settler said. “We have been broken by petty-minded clerks,” declared moshav secretary Arik Saul. Another member wept openly as he lowered the
The moshav blames an unfeeling bureaucracy for its demise and lashed out at the “settlement institutions.” But Matityahu Drobless, chairman of the World Zionist Organization’s Settlement Department, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Ten months ago it received a $1 million mortgage to build permanent homes. The money was immediately deposited with a thrift institution which paid high interest. It was supposed to do the purchasing for
The settlers also lost the $150,000 they had deposited to pay the water bills. The bills were never paid and the Mekorot water company cut off the water which was used to irrigate the moshav’s vineyards.
According to Drobless, he warned the settlers not to deposit their money with the failing financial institution but they didn’t heed his advice. Nevertheless, he said, the WZO continued to
The assistance was too little and too late. This week the settlers turned in their personal weapons to the local military authorities. The 40 families got into their cars and drove in a long motorcade to Jerusalem. It was like a funeral
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