Israel's finance committee has approved a plan to build a $3.3 million tourism center in the Barkan settlement in the West Bank.
The center appears to be part of a broader package of economic stimulus. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has raised the minimum wage for government employees by about 20%, and also imposed a 30% price reduction for 20,500 new apartments built on government land.
Centrist Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid criticized the committee's vote, saying it was Netanyahu's plan to please settlers ahead of the March 17 election. Netanyahu fired Lapid as finance minister on Dec. 2. Read more...
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