Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich was forced to put before the cabinet today for approval, against his will, a proposal to cut NIS 25 million from the coalition funds, which he had sought to transfer to his political base in Judea and Samaria.
Although this is only a small amount in terms of the entire budget, it nevertheless reflects the failure of the pressure that Smotrich exerted on the senior Ministry of Finance officials. Smotrich had demanded that they transfer coalition funds, which, according to legal advice and the budget department, did not comply with the rules of proper administration, and therefore, they opposed it. Smotrich was furious and even called them “anti-Semitic”, but in the end he had to back down on some issues.
Last month, Smotrich took advantage of the process of approving the war budget for 2023 to allocate hundreds of millions of shekels to party colleague Orit Strook’s Ministry of National Missions and Settlements. One of the clauses called for the transfer of NIS 40 million to settlement emergency squads but in Smotrich’s latest proposal brought to the cabinet today, after internal opposition in the Ministry of Finance, the amount will be halved to NIS 20 million.
Moreover, Smotrich and Strook will be obliged to distribute this money outside of their electoral base in Judea and Samaria. In the legal opinion attached to the proposal by Ministry of Finance legal advisor Asi Messing, the geographical field of activity of the Ministry of National Missions and Settlements is all the rural settlements throughout the country and prioritizing a specific area like Judea and Samaria would requires a separate cabinet decision.
In addition, the proposal reduces the coalition funds that Smotrich requested to be transferred to the Religious Education Administration, from NIS 22 million to NIS 16 million. Cuts were made in increased hours of study in Jewish subjects for elementary schools.
Funds have been designated for young settlements
Not only Smotrich has been forced to compromise. Ministry of Finance officials were forced to transfer coalition funds, contrary to their original position, after a number of adjustments were agreed upon. One of the main disputes with the finance minister was over a NIS 75 million budget item for Strook’s office for “security components.”
The clause entered the proposal for cabinet approval, after being approved last week by the Knesset Finance Committee despite the criticism of senior Ministry of Finance officials, who felt insufficient details about the security components were given and the budget had not been coordinated with the Ministry of Defense.
However, legal advisor Avi Messing ruled, “In view of the difficulties that existed in the proposal, an amendment was made, so that the allocation of the funds will be solely for the benefit of carrying out activities in the field of supplying security components to young settlements that have not budgeted by the Ministry of Defense, and according to the guidance of the authorized officials in the Ministry of Defense, in accordance with equitable standards that will be determined by the same bodies. It will also established in the cabinet decision that the security components will be approved by the cabinet’s legal adviser or someone on her behalf.”
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It turns out that the funds will be earmarked for “young settlements” in an ad-hoc manner. Messing emphasizes that “This is a budget for outposts whose status has not been made official.” Because of this, the legal adviser writes, “It is necessary to carry out a careful examination of each of the components and confirm them with the cabinet legal advisor’s deputies, before any enquiries to the Knesset Finance Committee.”
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on December 24, 2023.
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