The state wants 200,000 new residents - but in Granot HaGalil they've been waiting six years for plots

At the 'Lev BaGalil' conference, a target was set to bring 200,000 Jewish Israelis to the north by 2030. But in the community of Granot HaGalil, near the Lebanon border, young families have been waiting six years for plots in a community expansion intended for 56 families. Residents, many of them academics and hi-tech professionals, describe frustration with the authorities' conduct, project delays, encroachments on public land, and lack of response to inquiries.

At the 'Lev BaGalil' conference held last week, ministers, local council heads, and activists set an ambitious goal for the next government: to bring another 200,000 Jewish Israelis to the northern district by 2030. Speakers emphasized Zionism, demographics, and settlement. However, about 40 kilometers away, in the community of Granot HaGalil, near the Lebanon border, residents listen to these words with frustration. This is an exceptional group of young families, many of them academics, engineers, and hi-tech professionals, who organized over a decade ago at the Technion around the idea of settling in the Galilee and strengthening a small community. At the heart of the story is a community expansion intended for 56 families, which has been progressing and stalling intermittently for six years. Dr. Igor Krylov, a local resident, describes delays, encroachments on public land, a public building used for private residence, and a lack of response from the authorities. The Ma'ale Yosef Regional Council stated that the matter was handled in a complex legal process, and that costs increased due to a reduction in the number of plots. No response was received from Minister Orit Strock, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, the Israel Land Authority, or the Settlement Division.