Experts Urge Netanyahu to Freeze Planning Amendment Affecting Negev and Galilee
Over 300 experts urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to freeze Amendment 5 to National Master Plan 35, warning it threatens Negev and Galilee development.
More than 300 planning, construction, and development experts have urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt Amendment 5 to National Master Plan 35, warning that the proposed regulatory changes could severely obstruct regional expansion in the Negev and the Galilee.
Contradictory Policies
The urgent appeal comes as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich champions campaigns to bolster the Negev and Galilee, and Settlement Minister Orit Strock pushes for legislation facilitating isolated farmsteads similar to models in the West Bank. However, signatories from the Zionist Planning Institute argue that the master plan amendment introduces stringent demands regarding housing unit sizes and building density, alongside costly procedural requirements that will add hundreds of thousands of shekels to small expansion projects.
"We call on the Prime Minister and cabinet ministers to wake up, halt the amendment immediately, and revise the plan to ensure genuine development pathways," said Eran Roles, chairman of the Israel Building Center.
Criticism and Demands
The professionals highlighted a stark policy discrepancy, noting that while rural Jewish communities face tightening restrictions, parallel initiatives are advancing large-scale housing projects and regularizing unauthorized construction in Arab localities. The letter demands an immediate freeze to the amendment to guarantee equitable and supportive planning policies across the periphery.