Jewish-Christian organization renovates private shelters - Haaretz

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Mon., August 13, 2007 Av 29, 5767

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Last update - 15:59 03/08/2007

Jewish-Christian organization renovates private shelters

By Eli Ashkenazi, Haaretz Correspondent

A year after the Second Lebanon War, renovations have finally begun on private shelters in the North.

As Haaretz reported two months ago, the 2,443 private shelters, which are located in apartment buildings and serve their residents, are being renovated by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, which has raised NIS 43 million for the purpose.

At the same time, the state is renovating some 3,300 public shelters north of the line running from Acre to Amiad. Those renovations will cost some NIS 60 million.

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By law, a public shelter is the municipality's responsibility, while private shelters are the responsibility of each building's residents. However, many northern apartment dwellers cannot afford to renovate their shelters themselves, so IFCJ volunteered to fill the gap.

The actual work will be done by the state-owned Amigur company.

IFCJ said yesterday it had volunteered to fund the renovations immediately after the war, but it wanted the government to resolve certain issues first, such as who would bear overall responsibility for the project, who would grant permits for the renovations and who would be responsible for supervising the shelters' upkeep after the work was finished. However, legal difficulties prevented the government from giving answers to these questions.

Finally, the organization got tired of waiting and decided to go ahead with the work anyway, while asking each municipality to arrange the necessary permits and take responsibility for the shelters' upkeep afterward.

In response, the Prime Minister's Office said that it welcomed IFCJ's contribution, but "it is important to note that the government is the one that made the connection between the fund and the local authorities, so it vehemently rejects charges that the government did not meet its commitments."

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1.	Shelters in the North	06:50	\|	Vera	03/08/07

2.	As an Israeli Jew I am very pleased to see Jewish and	07:37	\|	Anat	03/08/07

3.	Christians	08:00	\|	freddy	03/08/07

4.	Cheers to one of my favorite organizations!	08:38	\|	Gina	03/08/07

5.	christians?.#3	09:15	\|	charro	03/08/07

6.	Charro, #5	17:21	\|	Jake	03/08/07

7.	Jakes, especially if they are protestant sectarians	18:29	\|	Yaakov Sullivan	03/08/07

8.	Shelters - Jewish/Christian aid	21:51	\|	Rachel	03/08/07

9.	Jews need help, glad some Christians take a stand.	22:45	\|	pahoo katawah	04/08/07

10.	Christians who love Israel from the heart	11:49	\|	Patrick Jarvis	13/08/07

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