New university, airport revival, anchor Kiryat Shmona rehabilitation push

The comprehensive plan for the city and its environs aims to lure a young, strong population to the North.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

The Cabinet held its weekly meeting Sunday in Kiryat Shmona, pledging a major rehabilitation package aimed at reviving the northern city, which has struggled to restore its prewar population and economic activity.

A central element of the plan is the establishment of the city’s first university. As early as this year, Tel-Hai College is slated to relocate to Kiryat Shmona and be upgraded to the University of Kiryat Shmona and the Galilee.

Tel-Hai recently merged with the MIGAL Research Institute, which specializes in fields including biotechnology, plant and environmental science, and precision agriculture.

The new university will “change the face of the region,” said Ze’ev Elkin, the minister overseeing reconstruction of the North and South.

It will “strengthen the local economy, attract young people, researchers and entrepreneurs, and create a national anchor that will transform Kiryat Shmona into a capital of innovation and hope in the north,” he said.

To improve connectivity between Israel’s far north and the center of the country, the plan also includes the immediate reopening of Kiryat Shmona Airport to commercial flights, nearly 23 years after it was closed due to low demand.

The move, alongside the recent reopening of Haifa Airport, is part of a “comprehensive vision” to make all parts of Israel more accessible and ultimately eliminate the notion of a geographic “periphery,” said Transportation Minister Miri Regev.

Regev also referenced the project to connect Kiryat Shmona to the national rail network, which officially began last August and is expected to be completed by 2040.

Renewed air service is also expected to help revive the local tourism industry, a major economic pillar that was devastated during two years of war.

For more immediate relief, the government plan includes grants for struggling businesses at risk of closure, as well as funding to develop new industrial bases in northern border communities.

A dedicated budget will also be allocated to attract high-tech and other advanced industries, including subsidies for employee wages.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the initial package of incentives and benefits will total NIS 400 million and be implemented within six weeks, with additional funding in the billions to follow.

Local residents have been demanding stronger government intervention for months, noting that only about 60% of the city’s population has returned and that many businesses remain on the brink of collapse.

While residents welcomed the promises, some of which were included in their demands, they continue to press for more immediate, practical measures to enable families to return permanently, including significant property tax reductions, VAT exemptions, and housing grants.

Their concern, one resident said, is that the pledges could prove to be election-year promises that fail to materialize.