Israel: Billions allocated to improve economy in Druze sector

Palestinians walk in a market next to destroyed buildings in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip. Pic/AFP

The government of Israel Sunday approved the plan for empowerment and socio-economic development for the years 2025-2029 in the Druze communities in the Golan Heights and in the Druze and Circassian communities in the Galilee and the Carmel. A budget of 3.9 billion Shekels (USD 1.07 billion) will be allocated for this.

The Prime Minister's Office said the program provides a "broad and comprehensive response" to the needs of the populations, and focuses, among other things, on subsidizing development expenses in land tenders for security forces personnel; restoring and developing infrastructure, open spaces, and public institutions in localities; increasing development budgets in authorities; expanding and accelerating planning processes; strengthening excellence in formal and informal education; strengthening Druze cultural and heritage centers; and developing industrial zones and assisting small and medium-sized businesses.

The Druze are a small Arabic group who, like Jews, are both a religion and a nation of people. However, they do not claim any homeland of their own and are loyal to the countries in which they live. The Druze communities are divided between Israel, Syria and Lebanon.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever