In their letter, the mayors noted that "over the past few months, we have stood with the Minister of the Negev, Galilee and National Resilience and the people in his ministry, and unfortunately, it became clear to us this week that from the big promises, a much smaller sum remains, which is barely enough to sustain the existing projects, and certainly no real deep and significant change has been possible."
Among the signatories are Jackie Levy, Mayor of Beit She'an, Ronen Flott, Mayor of Lev HaGalil, Shai Hajaj, Chairman of the Regional Councils, Yechiel Zohar, Mayor of Netivot, Benny Biton, Mayor of Dimona, Shimon Suissa, Mayor of Hazor, Eli Barda, Mayor of Migdal HaEmek, and Itzik Danino, Mayor of Ofakim.
"The challenges of governance, personal security, population growth and narrowing the gaps we face require massive government investment. The apparent cuts severely harm our ability to deal with these challenges," they added sharply, and concluded: "We call on you, Prime Minister, to prevent once and for all the widening of the gaps between the center of the Negev and the Galilee. Stop the cut!"
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leads a government conference at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem on May 14, 2023 (Photo by Jonathan Zindel, Flash 90)
A few days ago, Minister Wasserlauf sent a letter to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich warning that the sweeping cuts in budgets for the Negev and Galilee would severely harm projects aimed at developing the Negev and Galilee and reducing the gaps between them and Gush Dan.
In addition, Dimona Mayor Benny Biton sent a letter a few days ago to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance requesting that Minister Wasserlauf prevent the budget cut in the Ministry of the Negev and Galilee: "We ask and demand to keep the commitment and promise of elections and coalition agreements and to budget the Ministry of the Negev and Galilee in full," Biton wrote.
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