Aid program for Gush Katif evacuees to be extended by six months

The ministerial committee for disengagement affairs granted the Employment Service approval to extend the program to promote employment among Gush Katif settlement evacuees by an additional six months.

The program includes an opportunity to obtain professional training and career change in courses offered by the Trade Ministry or in personal training programs. The cost of funding the program has so far reached NIS 14 million, and the cost of extending the aid stands at an additional NIS 6.5 million.

The program also offers sustenance stipends to unemployed evacuees who devote most of their time to professional training, as well as funding to assist entrepreneurs interested in starting up independent businesses.

As part of the program, the Employment Service also operates service centers in Nitzan, Yad Binyamin and Ashkelon offering personal counseling to evacuees.

According to Trade Ministry data, evacuees have already manned over 2000 jobs, and only 820 evacuees are actively seeking employment. 556 evacuees are currently at some stage of professional training and acquiring new trades as part of the program. Nonetheless, Gush Katif Council data indicates a 50 percent unemployment rate among evacuees.

The Employment Service says typical obstacles for evacuees in joining the workforce stem from a desire to work part-time for family reasons (mostly among women), a reluctance to take industrial production positions, a refusal to work for minimum wage, and a refusal to commute far from their homes.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in the coming days intends to announce the acceleration of procedures to establish neighborhoods for evacuees in seven south Israel locations. Government agencies have already made decisions regarding the sites, but construction has yet to begin.

MK Uri Ariel (National Union - NRP), who has been closely following the evacuees for the past year and a half, said he is worried Olmert's statement will just be political spin. "This is not a new decision on the establishment of new communities, and I advise us not to be deceived by spin."

The Gush Katif Council says they have heard enough statements and would like to see the commencement of permanent construction of the much-discussed communities.