“The residents are collapsing, an administration must be established for the northern border settlements”

Last week, Zahar Bashara from the village of Ein Kiniya was killed by a rocket at the factory where he worked in Kiryat Shmona. And Eyal Moghrabi, head of Ein Kiniya Council, saw the damage from the window of his house. “We woke up in the morning to the sounds of gunfire. Usually we see some dust columns, but that day I detected a column of smoke rising from the area. When the MDA and fire brigade arrived, we had already received a message. At first they said there was an injured person like Kiniya.”

Moghrabi arrived at Ziv Hospital in Safed. “The family was there, they didn’t understand what happened. At first there was a mistake in the identification. Around nine thirty in the morning I was called to identify the body. His twin brother also arrived. That day at five o’clock we already buried him.”

Moghrabi says that Bashara, 25 years old at the time of his death, worked at the factory for five years, But since October 7 He went to Hell. “He returned to work a week ago. His father died in 2014 from an illness, and since then he and his brother have supported the family. It can’t be that you go out to bring a living to the house and come back in a closet.”

According to Moghrabi, the ongoing economic hardship suffered by the residents of Ein Kiniya led Bashara to return to work that day, despite the security situation.

Unlike the settlements of the Upper Galilee, the settlements of the northern Golan Heights were not evacuated. Moghrabi points out that most of the villagers work in Kiryat Shmona, Metula and kibbutzim in the area. Now that they are evacuated, the residents are left without a source of income.

Zahar Bashara, a resident of the village of Ein Kiniya who was killed in Kiryat Shmona (photo: courtesy of the family)

“Half of the village works in Kiryat Shmona and Metula. Others work in Meshgav Am, Shaar Yishuv, Dan and Dafna. There is a contractor here with 400 employees, today he does not have a single employee“.

The agricultural areas of the village are also within the firing range, but the residents are still trying to cultivate them. “Now all the fruit is on the trees. Even if I pick, who will I sell to? Who will come here to buy the fruit?”, he wonders.

“We are at the same risk level as Metula”

“The people here don’t live,” says Moghrabi. “I have 50-60 new welfare files since October 7. We have smart electricity meters. Everyone has a standing order. The residents canceled the standing orders and buy electricity in cash, for one hundred shekels.”

The settlement, he says, is 6 km from the border and is not considered a conflict line settlement. “We are located between Mount Dov and the Zaora camp. We intercepted over 30 missiles in the area of ​​Ein Kiniya. On the third day of the war, a hostile aircraft entered here. With every shot of Iron Dome, shrapnel falls on us. No one cares. We are not defined as a conflict line settlement. How do you define a conflict line? according to the distance? as per the Name? I am a threatened settlement. should be defined according to the level of risk. We are at the same risk level as Metula.”

Another compensation route is the definition of a settlement as a “book settlement”. This definition provides tax and investment benefits, and is temporary. Moghrabi says that at the beginning of the war they tried in the Ministry of Finance, and the villages of Ein Kiniya, Restaurant and Majdal Shams entered the list of settlements in the book. “A week ago we received a letter that the three villages were removed from the list,” he says angrily. “Katsrin and Buqaata entered the list. I don’t know the reason.”

“Right now we are in‘Green route (ordinary compensation route – Y.S.) But it is not enough. Today my income is 20% from regular income. We are in serious trouble. We were financially harmed by the evacuation of the neighbors. I don’t know what will happen if the situation continues. The residents will collapse If there is no reference from the government. We need a special administration for the north.

“Those who are evacuated receive compensation, they have something to live on. What happens to those who stay?”, Moghrabi wonders. “We need support not only for businesses, but also for citizens“.

After the death of Zahar Bashara, President Yitzhak Herzog came to comfort the family. Also government ministers have arrived. “I contacted ministers Amichai Shikli and Eli Cohen,” concludes Moghrabi, “they promised to help and convey the message. We must establish an administration for the border settlements. WeandRaises the security of the State of Israel.

“The country is starting to lose the north. There is no governance here. Start treating the north as an integral part of the State of Israel“.