Efrat is Waiting for Bibi

I was driving out of Efrat today and kids were handing flyers to each car.

"Oh, some new Pre-Passover Restaurant must be advertising," I thought.

But the flyer was totally different. It said, "Efrat is waiting for Bibi."

Waiting for Bibi to do what?

An abridged English-language letter from Efrat's Mayor Oded Revivi to Efrat residents explained.

"After all of Prime Minister Netanyahu's promises - to allow building in Efrat to be renewed - turned out to be futile, and even his recent declaration to approve the building of 500 apartments did not include Efrat, we have decided to start a public campaign demanding that the building freeze of more than 11 years be thawed out!

...We cannot be silent..."

Can you imagine a town of almost 2000 families has not received one new building permit? So, young people have to move away from their families. Growing families have to stay squished in their starter apartments, because there's nothing to move UP into. Renters will have to stay in a perpetual state of renting, unless they decide to move to a BUY-able community. Efrat will stagnate, and if a community can't grow, it will eventually just die, chas v'shalom.

Bibi, Bibi, Wherefore Art Thou, Bibi?

Efrat began its publicity campaign with a video launch of a young woman who is looking for her beloved. While he promised her everything, he delivered nothing, and then just abandoned her. After the success of the first video, Efrat released a second video identifying the girl, "Efrat", as a 27 year old resident of Efrat (the same age as the town) and her beloved, "Binyamin, Bibi", as the Prime Minister of the State of Israel.

Bibi, she said, promised her a home, and all kinds of other positive things, but he simply disappeared. He promised her a flourishing community in Gush Etzion. "We're all desperate for building here, but you refuse," Efrat told Bibi. "To date, you haven't approved one house. Not one."

To see both video clips, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noQph29-4vc .

To find out more about Efrat's building deep-freeze, click here: http://voices-magazine.blogspot.com/2011/01/media-says-theres-no-building-freeze.html

Meanwhile, has the video campaign made any progress to get Bibi to keep his promises? Has Bibi even seen it?

We'll find out and keep you posted.