Judea and Samaria’s civil authority boosts staff in first since Oslo

The growing population in Judea and Samaria has led the civil administration to expand its staff of service providers. 

By Jack Gold, World Israel News

The civil administration in Judea and Samaria is recruiting new employees and is expanding its staff, the first such move since the signing of the 1993 Oslo Accords.

While the Jewish and Arab populations in Judea and Samaria have grown, the civil administration has shrunk, Israel Hayom reported Wednesday. The personnel shortage can’t keep up with the demands of the expanding population.

The government will approve a plan next month to double the staff of the administration, Israel Hayom reports. The civil administration is a civil-military authority in Judea and Samaria that sits under the command of the Israel Defense Forces. It’s responsible for managing aspects of civilian life for the Israeli and Palestinian populations.

Since the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, the Civil Administration’s workforce has been downsized under the assumption that Israeli control in certain areas would end. However, 25 years later, both the Jewish and the Arab populations have grown and the understaffed civil administration has been unable to meet all its responsibilities

With no political change in sight, the IDF has decided to expand its service providers by another 280 staff, including 150 Palestinians.

Chairman of the Knesset’s Subcommittee on Judea and Samaria, MK Moti Yogev, called for the plan’s approval, which will benefit of both populations.

The current situation “hurts not only Jewish settlement, but also the Palestinians. If there is no working water infrastructure, if there aren’t up-to-date electricity grids, if there aren’t roads that can accommodate the population, they suffer exactly as we do,” he said.