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The Israeli Ministry of Defence has announced the launch of a campaign to finance the construction of safe rooms in the northern parts of the country following the ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah last week. The total budget of the campaign is NIS 1.2 billion.
Initially, the campaign will cover settlements located between 0 and 1 kilometre from the border, as well as Kiryat Shmona and towns between 1 and 5 kilometres away. Later, other settlements within a radius of 5-9 kilometres from the border will be covered.
In particular, it is planned to build about 1,700 safe rooms in Kiryat Shmona alone and 10,000 rooms for all settlements within 0-5 kilometres of the border. More than 10,000 additional shelters are envisaged for towns within a 5-9 km radius, but the exact numbers have not yet been determined, as this process is just beginning.
The average amount of funding per home for a safe room will be NIS 132,000, bringing the total cost of the project to about NIS 1.2 billion.
Conceptually, the implementation process will involve self-promotion by each resident, but the government will cover the costs and provide exemptions from the standard bureaucratic procedure, which usually takes up to two years.
The Ministry of Defence stated that the process would begin in January 2025, but later press releases reported that it would only begin in April 2025.
Financing of shelters for schools
Separately, the ministry has allocated NIS 250 million to finance and facilitate procedures for the establishment of safe zones and security systems for schools and other public buildings, starting from 0-5 kilometres from the border.
Colonel Yaniv Balfour and his deputy, Orna Raviv, said they were working to resolve special bureaucratic issues for some non-Jewish settlements in the area, where some buildings may have been erected without permission. They could not give a timeframe for resolving these issues, but stressed their commitment to ensuring the security of all settlements in the area.
Previously, government projects to build shelters in southern Israel have been delayed, especially for some non-Jewish towns, which often failed to meet deadlines.
