An internal document written by the Mateh Asher Regional Council reveals that residents of five of the frontline communities in its jurisdiction will have to live in temporary housing in mobile home parks for up to two years. The document, which is being published here for the first time and which was written before the Iranian missile and UAV attack against Israel, suggests that according to some estimates, residents of the Israeli communities adjacent to the border with Lebanon are still many months away from returning to their homes. Even if this plan is not implemented, it is a painful and accurate reflection of the sense of helplessness and anger that many residents of the confrontation line feel over how the state has treated them – as expressed in a recent Shomrim investigation into the government’s neglect of the north.

According to the document, the Mateh Asher Regional Council wants to move residents of the five border-adjacent communities in its jurisdiction to mobile home parks that it will set up in more southern communities, most of them kibbutzim. The five communities are Rosh Hanikra, Betzet, Hanita, Adamit and Arab al-Aramshe, which are located up to 2 kilometers from the Lebanese border.

The document states that 1,500 mobile homes will be needed, as well as buildings for schools and kindergartens. It goes on to say that the communities slated to absorb the evacuees have told the council that they are willing to house them and now officials are planning to contact the relevant government bodies for funding.

One question that the council will have to address is that of Arab al-Aramshe, a Bedouin village with a population of less than 2,000, many of whom have remained in their homes despite the danger posed by Hezbollah rocket attacks. It is not clear whether they will be evacuated to a Jewish community or to Sheikh Danun, another Arab community in the council’s jurisdiction.

The document alludes to the fact that Mateh Asher is not the only regional council planning such a move and makes reference to a 3.5-billion-shekel budget for a plan that is supposed to cover all of the frontline communities in northern Israel.

It is worth noting that discussions were held throughout December at the Prime Minister's Office over the possibility of evacuating eight communities in the Mateh Asher region to more southern communities, but nothing came of these talks. Likewise, it was not stipulated at those discussions how long the evacuees would be forced to live in mobile homes. Now, as mentioned, the plan is to evacuate residents of the five communities closest to the border. Incidentally, the proposed 3.5-billion-shekel budget is exactly the same sum that the state intended to allocate to a long-term plan for the rehabilitation of the north – a plan that has yet to be approved by the government, even though it was due to be approved in early February. The high cost, it seems, could be the biggest obstacle to implementation of this plan, which is essentially the same as the one which saw the relocation of residents of the Gaza envelope kibbutzim which were attacked on October 7.

The document also stresses that the goal is not to merge communities and that all residents of the frontline communities will eventually return to their homes. The document also states that residents of three communities located between 2 and 4 kilometers from the border – Liman, Matzuba and Kibbutz Eilon – will be allowed to return to their homes in early September, on condition that they have a bomb proof room.

Moshe Davidovich, the head of the Mateh Asher Regional Council, is also chair of the umbrella association of communities on the northern border known as the Conflict Zone Forum. Last month, the Forum presented the government with a very clear demand: Every evacuated resident of the north who is currently being accommodated in a hotel or a rental apartment, must be able to return to their home by the start of the next school year on September 1. It would seem that the initiative currently being put together contradicts the Forum’s declaration and is an admission that at least some of the residents of the frontline communities will have to remain internal refugees for quite some time.

It is worth noting that Kiryat Shmona, the largest of the frontline communities, with a population of around 25,000, is also officially considered to be within 2 kilometers of the border, because of the new neighborhoods in the north of the city which have been built in recent years.

The Mateh Asher Regional Council said in response: “We are working in partnership with government ministries to examine alternatives and options with regard to accommodation and with the Education Ministry with regard to setting up temporary schools in the council’s more southern communities. We will update you when the plan is fully finalized.”