A neighbourhood in Ariel. Photo: Michoel Jacobson.

Ynet – The government on Sunday approved the new national priority list. A record number of 90 settlements were included in a list of more than 600 towns and communities eligible for state benefits, among them several new settlements once considered illegal. Beitar Illit, a large haredi settlement, was not on the list.

During the meeting, an argument broke out between Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Economy Minister Naftali Bennett. Livni asserted that “dangerous” communities should not be put on the list and Bennett replied, “It’s lucky that the founders of Hanita (a kibbutz in the western Galilee) were not of the same opinion.

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