Prime Minister Ehud Olmert visiting a packing shed for peppers in Moshav Ein Yahav

At the end of January the Prime Minister of Israel, Mr. Ehud Olmert, visited the Arava. This was the first visit by a Prime Minister to the region since the visit of Yitzhak Rabin z"l in 1993, and excitement ran high in the Arava.

The Prime Minister met with the region's farmers at the packing shed of one of the veteran families on Moshav Ein Yahav, where newly elected Regional Council Head Ezra Ravins spoke about the vision and aims for the Arava. At the end of the visit the Prime Minister ordered the establishment of a high level committee to examine various ways in which to assist the Arava in the realization of its goals. Since the visit a number of meetings have already been held with some of the government ministries, and with the Daroma Co., which previously prepared a strategic plan for the Arava. Ezra Ravins believes that representatives of the Council will soon be invited to take part in the discussions of the newly formed committee, and is encouraged by the fact that it is headed the director of the Prime Minister's Office, Ra'anan Dinur, who has expressed firm determination to help the region.

Demographic growth is one of the main issues for which government assistance is required. In 1995 the then Council Head Shai Ben Eliahu had a strategic plan prepared for the development and population of the region, which called for increasing the population to 10,000 residents, while preserving the unique qualities of the Arava. Thirteen years have rolled away since then, and the population of the Arava stands at only 3,000 residents. In order to provide stable services and fitting responses for the population of a region located at a distance from urban centers, the number of residents must be increased to 5,000 at the first stage, within the next two years. During the  past few weeks a feeling of cautious optimism has been taking hold in the region regarding establishment of infrastructure that will enable population growth, as well as agricultural, tourism and community development - it seems that the Central Arava's time has come!