The government approved on Thursday a plan for the development of the Golan Heights by 2030, with a total investment of approximately NIS 1 billion ($334 million).

The five-year plan will make the small town of Katzrin the Golan’s first city, according to Ze’ev Elkin, a minister in the Finance Ministry tasked with rehabilitating the north and south of the country.

“Today we made history in the Golan Heights: turning Katzrin into the first Israeli city in the Golan and investing nearly one billion shekels in Katzrin and the Golan,” said Elkin in a statement on Thursday.

The government decision, said Elkin, combines “investment in infrastructure, housing, economic growth engines, academia and public services. Its goal is to bring in thousands of new families and to establish the Golan and Katzrin as a significant demographic and economic growth hub.”

The announcement on Thursday followed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting on Monday with Katzrin local council head Yehuda Dua, and Golan Regional Council head Uri Kellner in Jerusalem.

“Not only are ‘the people with the Golan,’ I am with the Golan, the government of Israel is with the Golan, and the people of Israel are truly with the Golan,” Netanyahu........

© The Times of Israel