Anxiety in Ariel

Dear Friends,

As you read this letter, the anniversary marking a year of constant Arab violence and terror will have passed. I know you have been following the news about Israel closely and while the media often distorts the facts, the brutal murders of hundreds of Israeli soldiers and civilians, women and children are very real.

You read and hear of gunfire and mortar sheers because only “what bleeds leads”, but the media does not tell you about the damaging effects and cumulative stress on the everyday lives of the people of Ariel.

Over the past year, the leadership of the City of Ariel has taken numerous emergency measures to keep our residents safer and to keep moral up. Your help made much of this possible. No one, however, anticipated that the violence would continue for so long. Now, in fact, defense officials are projecting that this terrorist war against Israel may last 5 years.

Just turning on the radio, every hour for the last year, has been enough to cause great anxiety in each resident of Ariel. With each suicide bomb in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv, every incident of gunfire on the highways of Israel, the cumulative stress worsens. We have monitored the number of calls for assistance from residents in psychological distress and have seen the numbers double and then triple. Depression and fear are serious problems. Residents are reluctant to travel the roads if it is not absolutely necessary particularly at night.

Since Ariel was established we have relied heavily on the Tel Aviv area for culture and recreation. Today, we must provide those services here, within our own city. At the same time, however, the government is cutting community budgets to meet their defense needs.

I want to wish you and you’re a happy and healthy New Year and ask you to please help make this a good year for the people of Ariel

Sincerely,

Ron Nachman

Mayor of Ariel