300 New Housing Units Being Built in Bet El!
Back in 2012, the Israeli government bowed to international pressure and evicted families from 30 homes in the Givat HaUlpana neighborhood of Bet El. The Bet El Yeshiva and its head Rabbi, Rav Zalman Baruch Melamed, agreed not to engage in activities against its destruction (while, of course, opposing it in word) in exchange for a promise from then PM Bibi Netanyahu to build 10 times that number of housing units in another location in Bet El. Year after year that promise was left unfulfilled... until now.
Today eight high-rise apartment buildings stand in Bet El's newest neighborhood (currently nicknamed "The Neighborhood of the 300"), two of which are already completed and inhabited by new residents as of this past July. The remaining six buildings are expected to be finished over the next 10 months. The newest neighborhood will be complete with parks, synagogues, kindergartens and daycares, and a market, and it is expected to create an influx of approximately 1,800 new Bet El residents!