The State Controls 90% of the Land – We Need a ‘Homesteading Act’
Quoting Binyamin Rose, in July’s Mishpacha “readers’ mailbag”:
(A reader in Ramat Beit Shemesh questioned one of the propositions in my recent article on Aliyah that the state of Israel should create incentives for wealthy people from chutz l’aretz to make Aliyah.) My question for you, he asked, especially from the perspective and hashkafah of a chareidi publication:
Is it the right approach for us to make mass aliya incumbent on the government creating luxurious realities?
I agree that the primary motivating factor for making Aliyah should be a quest for the spiritual. Chazal tell us the meraglim failed in their mission, partly out of fear that they would lose their prominent positions upon entering the Land of Israel. Yet, remember, that every Jew who did enter the land received their own ancestral plot of private land. They didn’t have regional and city planning boards hampering their efforts. People like to say that Israel is a little country. It is, but it’s big enough to fit the world’s 15-million Jews. The problem is the government owns 90% of the land. It shouldn’t be their own private domain. It should belong to the people. Israel needs a Homestead Act like America crafted to settle the West. Let Jews acquire land cheaply and build a nice home. I guarantee more people would make Aliyah if they had that opportunity.
P.S., American Homestead Acts were imperfect, as is the Right of Return, but the principle of the state devolving powers back to Jews is great. Perfect Is the Enemy of Good.