A public bomb shelter in the southern Israeli city of Sderot. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – The Israeli government on Sunday approved a multi-year strategic recovery plan devised for southern Israel in the wake of Operation Protective Edge. The plan includes the immediate appropriation of $360 million to communities adjacent to the Israel-Gaza border.

“This is the biggest investment Israel has ever made in the south,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday. The funds, he said, “will be appropriated on top of the $114 million we allocated to the south during Operation Protective Edge.”

“We will create new infrastructure for the factories in southern Israel, we will support medium and small businesses in the area, and we will develop the south’s tourism industry, as well as all other aspects of life, which would benefit all Negev residents, including the Bedouin community,” said Netanyahu.