Lieberman: There is a deficit in the billions, but Netanyahu is looking for a budget source for meetings

Following the advertising in Walla! NEWS on Netanyahu's Haredi Requirements for Resolving the Yeshiva Budget, Chairman Yisrael Beiteinu said "The health system is collapsing - and the important thing is to find a budget for yeshivas." The Finance Ministry holds a meeting attended by Torah and Shas leaders, who asked the prime minister to intervene on the issue

Lieberman: There is a deficit in the billions, but Netanyahu is looking for a budget source for meetings

Israeli House Speaker Avigdor Lieberman today (Sunday) opposes the ultra-Orthodox party's demand for an immediate resolution of the Yeshiva budget crisis, published last night in Walla! NEWS. "While the health system collapses, the budget deficit exceeds NIS 50 billion and Hamas sends explosives to southern Israel "The most important thing is to find a budget source for the meetings," Lieberman attacked.

Lieberman's remarks were said in parallel with a meeting held today at the Ministry of Finance with the heads of Torah Judaism, Litzman and Moshe Gaffney, Minister Moshe Kahlon and Deputy Shas Itzik Cohen, Deputy Accountant General Roni Hezekiah and the head of the budget wing, Shaul Meridor, following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's demand The Torah and Shas, which demanded an immediate solution to the crisis in the yeshiva budget, which has been significantly affected since the beginning of the year due to the political plunder and the government's definition of "the transitional government". On Wednesday, Minister Ya'akov Litzman met with Netanyahu, stating: "This is a real problem. It is your duty to intervene in this."

Yesterday, MK Yair Lapid, one of the leaders of Blue and White, responded to the announcement in Walla! NEWS said that "immunity is not only a moral slump, it also costs money." Lapid blamed Netanyahu for responding to the ultra-Orthodox demands for supporting him on the issue of immunity from prosecution "The whole country is stuck," he said. "The grants to doctors on the periphery have been discontinued, but Netanyahu is not interesting. It is interesting to pay only to those who need his immunity. "

Read more on:

"When there is a deficit - the important thing is a budget for meetings." Lieberman (Photo: Reuven Castro)

Israel House in Knesset Dispersion Meeting (Photo: Reuven Castro)

In a similar vein, Israeli House Speaker MK Oded Forer said that Netanyahu was captive by Litzman and Deri. "There is no money for special education, no money for health, but once Litzman and Deri tweet, Netanyahu convenes an emergency hearing to find a way to transfer another NIS 400 million to the ultra-Orthodox parties - the main thing is to support immunity," he said. "Do not waste your time on the meeting. We will not allow such a transfer to the Finance Committee."

On the other hand, Finance Committee Chairman MK Moshe Gaffney, one of the leaders of Torah Judaism, shrugged off the accusations. In an interview with "Yad Ne'eman", which represents the Torah flag faction, he claimed that his faction gave up positions in the last round of appointments, despite Netanyahu's proposal, and "we made it clear that we will not take a ministerial role because it is a directive from the Torah Council, but instead we ask that he help We must prevent the damage that may be caused to the meetings due to the political stagnation. "

Gaffney claimed that he had recently met Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and the finance officials, and he said, "They told me: 'What do you want, the cuts are in all areas and in all government ministries,' but I explained to them that the yeshiva budget was something else entirely. "The meetings should not be left in such a situation."

Netanyahu's Haredi Demand Storm: "Prevents Politics and Immunity"

Respond to their demand and initiated a meeting. Netanyahu with Deri and Litzman (Photo: Reuven Castro)

PM Benjamin Netanyahu at the Block Session, Knesset, November 18, 2019 (Photo: Reuven Castro)

He added that in Torah Judaism "we are fighting for it with all our might, trying to solve the problem with the official rule. You cannot treat the yeshivas as they relate to the cuts in other government ministries, this is something else, in our mind, the situation is critical for the Torah world and I hope that with the help of God there will be a solution. This budget is coming soon, and a friendly government will be set up so that the conference budget can be transferred retroactively from January onwards. It is up to us already. "

Last year's conference budget reached a peak of NIS 1 billion and NIS 224 million. Most of the amount, about NIS 800 million, is at the base of the state budget and most of it is expected to go to meetings in the coming year as well. However, more than NIS 400 million comes from "subsidies" and coalition funds, which will not be passed on as a result of the political plunder and the establishment of a new government.

This is because from January 1, 2020, until the approval of a new state budget in the Knesset, Accountant General Hezekiah manages state funds according to the Continuous Budget Rules, which limit the monthly expenditure to the 2019 budget portion of Part 12. If a summary is indeed reached, it is the exclusion of scholarship grants from the restrictions. The generalities of managing the state budget in the absence of an approved budget.

The political plunder has put the anxious politicians in a problematic position, as they have no bargaining chip to threaten a coalition crisis if the issue is not settled. However, the ultra-Orthodox require at least a partial solution for the next two months until after the elections, then a new government may emerge.