Why did my husband have to die for us to get connected to grid?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the Defense Ministry on Thursday to hook up the Havat Gilad outpost to the electricity grid and water supply, following demands made by the Yesha Council and the family of Rabbi Raziel Shevach, who was killed in a terrorist attack two days ago.
Havat Gilad is an unauthorized West Bank outpost established in 2002, west of Nablus, consisting mostly of prefabricated or semi-permanent structures and without many normal municipal and residential amenities and utilities.
Yossi Dagan, chairman of the Samaria Regional Council, spoke at length with the director-general of the Prime Minister’s Office Yoav Horowitz on Wednesday about recognizing Havat Gilad as a legal settlement, allowing construction there and connecting the outpost to the electricity and water supply.
The prime minister subsequently gave instructions on Thursday to connect the outpost to these utility services, while Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said on Wednesday that he had instructed his ministry to examine the possibility of recognizing the outpost as a permanent settlement.
Following the decision, Horowitz visited Yael Shevach in the mourning house at Havat Gilad, bringing a letter from the prime minister with his decision regarding the electricity and water supply.
The widow, however, expressed anger that such utilities have taken so long to reach the outpost.
“I’m sorry to say this, but this is shameful, it’s simply a joke that someone needs to die in order to get electricity,” she said in tears.
“And if you are already trying to find a price for this murder, then there is an entire settlement here that is waiting for approval,” she said. “We have paid an insane price which we didn’t want to pay, and we want to know that this didn’t happen for nothing.”
Dagan said he thanked the prime minister for ordering the outpost to be connected to the electricity grid, and that the Yesha Council “expects a decision to recognize Havat Gilad as a regular settlement in the State of Israel,” adding, “This is the Zionist response to terrorism.” •