Seventy percent of Israeli settlers refuse post-war return to north: Poll
The number of northern settlers who are unwilling to return to the north has jumped by 30 percent since earlier this year
Around 70 percent of Israeli settlers who were evacuated from northern settlements near the Lebanese border have expressed an unwillingness to return to their homes, according to a poll published by Hebrew newspaper Maariv on 22 October.
The poll was carried out earlier this month by Israel’s 121 Engine for Social Change organization.
According to the poll, 50 percent of settlers evacuated from both the north and south do not wish to return to their settlements. About seventy percent of the settlers from the north are considering not returning to their homes.
“The data reveals an alarming picture of damage to livelihoods and a lack of employment support from the government, which raises fears of an occupational-economic catastrophe,” Maariv wrote.
Sixty percent of all evacuated settlers have experienced damage to their livelihoods, while 53 percent referred to the government’s response to their employment challenges as inadequate.
One in five are currently unemployed.
“We are facing an acute employment crisis among the evacuees, mainly from the north, with 32% reporting that they do not work at all. Their occupational skills are eroding, and this poses a real danger to the economy and their mental health,” said Israeli lawyer Tali Nir.
The reluctance to return to the north comes despite the Israeli army ground operations in southern Lebanon, which Tel Aviv says aims to push Hezbollah away from the border and secure the return of the tens of thousands of settlers who fled the north at the start of the war last year.
The Maariv report also highlights the frustration of settlers in the several settlements of the upper Galilee that have not been evacuated.
Parents from the eight settlements that haven’t been evacuated wrote a joint letter to Israel’s Education Minister Yoav Kish demanding a proper education plan for children in the north whose schooling has been disrupted as a result of the war.
“Our children are paying a heavy and lasting price. Huge educational gaps are growing, there are very few educational, emotional and social resources, and all this while constantly dealing with the sounds of war, the restriction of freedom of movement, a lack of educational staff, and living in a paralyzed area,” the parents wrote, complaining that their children are now forced to study via video calls.
The percentage of settlers who are reluctant to return to the north has increased.
A study conducted in May by the Tel Hai Academic College in Israel stated that about 40 percent of the evacuees from the northern settlements are considering not returning to their homes after the end of the war.
Most of the northern settlers had been evacuated by October last year.
Israel began its ground incursions into southern Lebanon at the very start of this month. Since then, it has been unable to advance further than a few hundred meters into certain border villages. Hezbollah has dealt heavy blows against the invading troops while continuing to fire at military sites and troop gatherings across the border.
The Lebanese resistance said on 18 October that it killed 55 soldiers and destroyed at least 20 Merkava tanks in the first two weeks of the ground operations. The Israeli army announced on 22 October the death of the Allon Brigade’s Battalion 9308 Deputy Commander in south Lebanon.
Hezbollah has also escalated its attacks deep into Israeli territory in response to the massive and indiscriminate Israeli assault across Lebanon and its capital.