Finance minister agrees to release funds to Arab towns, under oversight mechanism
Protest against violence in Arab communities in Habima Square , Tel Aviv, on 6 August 2023
The Times of Israel staff and Carrie Keller-Lynn report:
In a meeting Sunday evening with local Arab leaders and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich agreed to release funds earmarked for Arab municipalities that he had recently frozen over ostensible concerns they would reach criminal elements.
Smotrich said the funds, totaling NIS 200 million ($53 million), would be transferred to the Interior Ministry in the coming weeks, while he would seek to establish a mechanism for greater oversight of the money’s use. He set a two-week timeline for the government to develop protocols to block the flow of funds to criminal organizations. Once implemented, he said, the Interior Ministry can release monies to Arab municipalities. “I’m happy that we have full cooperation” on the oversight mechanism, Smotrich told Army Radio on Monday morning, adding that it would apply to all funding, from all ministries, for Arab municipalities.
Kafr Qasim Mayor Adel Badir, who attended the meeting, said it was held at the Shin Bet headquarters, that it lasted for five hours, that Bar was present throughout, and that by the end all sides were in agreement.
Badir told Army Radio it had been agreed that the oversight mechanism on funding would apply to all local authorities, Arab and Jewish alike, and that he left the meeting newly optimistic. In a statement, Smotrich’s office said that the coalition would also advance a legislative package that would grant criminal and economic enforcement powers against organized crime. The finance minister’s bureau said this was in line with a directive from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Additionally, the Finance Ministry, Smotrich’s office said, would increase funds to the Israel Police by “tens of millions of shekels” in order to boost technology required for better enforcement and personal security in Arab society.