Yifat Erlich
Israel Hayom, Nov. 24, 2022
“What we are seeing here is a chokehold on Efrat in order to prevent its continued development.”
Countless times I have driven down the long, winding road between Neve Tzuf and Ofarim in west Binyamin. It is one of the most beautiful routes in the country. This time, however, the journey was different. Instead of enjoying the incredible, breathtaking view of the Binyamin Hills, I spent it looking at electricity poles. They are easy to identify and carry a sign that I had never noticed before: The walls of the Old City of Jerusalem with the Dome of the Rock and the universal symbol for high voltage, a lightning bolt. Underneath the image, in English and Arabic are the words Jerusalem District Electric Company (JDECO).
The discovery jolts me. These are Glatt kosher electricity poles that have received the authorization of the civil administration. They provide electricity to Palestinian villages and will soon carry voltage from the enormous solar farm that the Palestinian Authority has built between Neve Tzuf and Ofarim. So why does that frustrate me?
Because instead of the civil administration penalizing JDECO for providing electricity to illegal buildings in Area C, the company is rewarded with authorization to advance huge projects. The company’s growing debt to the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) has topped a billion shekels but that has not prevented the civil administration from approving JDECO’s request to upgrade the electricity line between Israel and Jordan and to purchase more electricity from Jordan. … [To read the full article, click here]