Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is preventing the diversion of coalition budgets from 2023 in favor of funding the Revival Administration and staying in hotels for evacuees.
Smotrich at a briefing at the civilian control center: "The economy is strong - we will support the home front and the front generously but responsibly" // GPO
On the table of the Finance Committee are two requests for "changes between clauses for 2023," mainly the thawing of coalition funds frozen since the beginning of the war in order to urgently fund the communities in the envelope, the Secretariat, and the financing of hotels.
However, Committee Chairman Moshe Gafni, in coordination with Minister Smotrich, has not yet raised the requests for discussion, and more than NIS 300 billion and NIS <> million have not been transferred for the needs of the envelope and the residents. Behind the scenes, it turns out that Smotrich intends to increase the state budget in order to generate additional budgetary sources, and in the meantime is setting aside those frozen funds in order to thaw them again later, and not as suggested by the professional echelon in the Ministry of Finance to use this money now immediately for the various needs of the war.
This evening, Smotrich was interviewed by Channel 12 News and rejected the claims that the money was not being transferred, adding that five billion shekels had already been transferred for various needs. But these excuses do not change the following fact: the coalition money, along with additional reserves that have not been used in 2023 so far, billions, can be an available and quick budget source for the needs of the war, but the finance minister together with the chairman of the finance committee prevent the transfer of the money."
The evacuees in Eilat, photo: AFP
A woman carrying toys at a hotel in Eilat to which evacuees from Kibbutz Nahal-Oz were evacuated, photo: AFP
"Sustaining the people when half the community doesn't exist is what is difficult and complex." Evacuees from Kibbutz Kfar Azza at a hotel in Shfayim, this week, photo: Efrat Eshel
Hadas Calderon, whose children were kidnapped and her mother and niece murdered, returns to her home in Nir Oz, Photo: Getty Images
Burnt dishwasher in the ruins of the house in Nir Oz, Photo: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Gafni's office rejected what was stated in the article with flimsy arguments, but a re-examination revealed that in fact both Gafni and Smotrich are acting in the opposite manner to the decision passed by the government to make across-the-board cuts in government decisions that have not yet been implemented in 2023 in favor of the war, including decisions regarding coalition funds of approximately NIS 2.5 billion. In order to curb the claims against the coalition funds, the money was set aside, but any attempt to use it for the benefit of the residents of the envelope and the evacuees has so far failed.
Smotrich's office said: "All the needs of the war, on the front and on the home front, receive an immediate budgetary response, with a broad hand and without any restrictions. To this end, and naturally, completely new priorities are being implemented in the state budget, and all resources are examined in light of their vitality for conducting the war and for victory. So far, more than NIS 5 billion has been transferred to the civilian needs of the war, and soon all the necessary changes in the budget will be brought to the government and the Knesset as one legislative package."
In a tweet posted to X, Gafni responded by saying, "In recent hours, false messages have once again been circulating on the Internet, supposedly the Finance Committee is "delaying" budget transfers for war purposes. I am here to clarify again and again the obvious – there is no delay in the budgetary transfers that are due to the committee for the needs of the fighting. Quite the opposite. And all the reports on the matter are not true. Only spreading 'fake news' and attempting evil cynical incitement during the war. Any transfer that reaches the committee to support the fighting on the front or home front will be raised immediately."
Wrong? We'll fix it! If you find a mistake in the article, please share with us