In the public debate these days, there is a heated debate over the question of whether to integrate the GSS and the IDF in an attempt to eradicate the wave of violence that is sweeping Arab society.
This debate is worthy, and in my opinion not only is there no justification for involving GSS officials in civil disputes - it is also undemocratic and dangerous. Continuation of Government Resolution 922).
Before addressing the body of a plan, which will be laid on the cabinet table today, the following point must be emphasized: it is impossible to conduct these two discussions as if they were two parallel lines that do not meet. There is not and will not be any solution to the problem of violence, if the discussion in the security arena takes place in isolation from the issues of education, welfare, infrastructure, housing, local government, health, and so on. No matter how many illegal weapons you collect: as long as a young and promising entrepreneur from Arab society sees a thousand closed doors in his attempt to get credit, and out of lack of choice he will have to turn to the gray market - violence is always here to stay.
And the body of a plan, which according to publications is estimated at NIS 30 billion: Is it worth standing up and applauding in the face of the impressive amount?
Well, and sorry I'm disabling a little political joy here, absolutely not.
If there's anything we've learned in the last five years, but we've really learned (suffice it to mention more than 100 murders this year), it comes down to the following fact: budget allocation is, by far, very far from solving problems.
You know what, there's no reason to beautify it: it's even a sham.
Why?
It is worth noting the following figure, a figure of the government itself: out of NIS 15 billion that was allegedly allocated in the previous five-year plan, in practice only NIS 7.6 billion was allocated, of which the Arab authorities managed to utilize NIS 3.6 billion.
And I want to expand on the argument and say the following: in practice, only residents came to the residents themselves, to the citizens at the edge.
Why?
Because the mechanism is cumbersome and inflated and messy.
Because local authorities at best find it difficult to carry out, and at worst perform poorly.
Because cultural gaps, language gaps and work gaps in the world will give Jewish authorities a clear performance advantage over Arab authorities.
Put one shekel here and one shekel here, and you will immediately see on which side your shekel is able to bring prosperity and well-being.
The five-year plan of recent years has completely not suffered from a lack of budgets.
Not even from a lack of goodwill.
She suffered from a lack of desire to roll up her sleeves and work hard.
From a lack of courage to touching messy hotspots that require intervention and management.
And from the lack of effective execution mechanisms, execution mechanisms that know how to overcome barriers, that know how to promote execution tenders, integrate and connect thousands of additional execution mechanisms.
Just before the government convenes to approve the new five-year plan, the decision-makers should be told the following: When you go through the numbers in the budget items, for every shekel, ask how exactly it is supposed to reach its destination - the citizens themselves.
The next five years in your hands.
Ibrahim Nassara is a resident of Lakia, a social activist, socio-economic entrepreneur in Arab society, founder and chairman of the Tamam Group in the Negev
