Last update - 00:00 25/03/2007
Sharon's Negev ranch may get tax cuts as war-zone settlement
By Haaretz Service
Despite the past opposition of then-prime minister Ariel Sharon, the stricken former leader's private ranch may be granted special concessions as a "conflict-area settlement" in a cabinet session Sunday, Army Radio reported.
It said the Sycamore Ranch outside of the western Negev town of Sderot may receive a 13 percent discount in income tax, and a 25 percent cut in property tax, as one of the settlements within range of Qassam rockets.
Palestinian militant groups have targeted the ranch in the past, but it is unclear how close the inaccurate rockets have come to hitting the property.
In 2004, the cabinet approved a range of financial benefits to all settlements and towns within six kilometers of the Gaza Strip border. At the time, Sharon asked that his ranch be removed from the list, although the farm met the criteria for the benefits.
Sharon's successor Ehud Olmert recently moved to have the ranch included in the list. But Olmert and Finance Minister Avraham Hirschson opposed a plan by Defense Minister Amir Peretz and Agriculture Minister Shalom Simhon, which would have extended the range of eligible settlements to nine kilometers.