Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich decided on Wednesday to ignore the opinion of his ministry's legal advisor, Assi Messing, according to which a war budget management team should not be established, and said Wednesday evening that the opinion "interests me the tip of the popik."
Smotrich criticizes budget department personnel: "Bringing out the soul with a spoon" // Photo: Noam Rivkin Fenton/Flash90
Yesterday, Messing rejected Minister Smotrich's decision. According to Messing, this directive cannot be carried out because it is illegal, with the main reason being the granting of decision-making authority in the team to Finance Director General Shlomi Heisler – a position of confidence of the Minister of Finance.
It should be recalled that in the Ministry of Finance, the functions of the Accountant General and the Head of the Budget Division, which are supposed to be in the team announced by Smotrich, are not subordinate to the Director General of the Ministry, but are parallel to him, and each of them has its own powers by law. The establishment of such a team effectively subordinates the head of the budget department and the accountant general to the director general of the ministry, which is a political appointment of the minister of finance.
Shlomi Heisler, Director General of the Ministry of Finance, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
Ministry of Finance. Will a solution be found?, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
Sources present at the Social Cabinet meeting also said that beyond issues related to the government budget during the war, the socioeconomic cabinet discussed the acute shortage of workers in the construction and agriculture sectors. In its opinion, the Shin Bet argues that Palestinian workers should be allowed to enter Judea and Samaria in order to ease the economic situation, which will also improve the security of Israeli citizens and prevent terrorist attacks, according to the sources present at the meeting.
Minister Barkat said that he strongly opposes the entry of Palestinians and argued that it is forbidden to rely on them and that the Israeli economy cannot be put in their hands. Barkat also said that he is constantly making progress in his attempts to bring in a large number of workers from India. The prime minister replied that he welcomes the initiative and that one of the alternatives being examined is to allow workers from Judea and Samaria to enter industrial areas B.
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