Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said in an interview with Army Radio on Sunday that "most of my public is now in reserve duty in the north and south at much higher percentages than most voters for the other parties," drawing sharp criticism.
MK Orit Farkas Hacohen responded to the remarks, writing: "My public" ??? Minister of Finance - these are not days for your public and for another public. In the same context, stop delaying payment to evacuees and hotels. Take care of changing economic priorities this year with action. Divert coalition funds, yes, also of your constituents, and effectively freeze the coalition funds earmarked for 2024. That's whatthe wholepublic expects from you."
Finance Minister Smotrich: "We failed" // Yoni Rikner
MK Idan Roll Mish Atid also strongly attacked Smotrich, writing: "Smotrich, this is a divisive and unnecessary statement, beyond the fact that it is not based on anything. The people of Israel are united in their struggle against murderous terror. Heroes from all over the country sacrifice their lives in a heroic effort to defend the homeland and do not stop for a moment to check whether the hero next to them voted like them. Concentrate on doing everything you can as finance minister and cabinet member to help with this. Every word beyond is unnecessary and harmful."
Meanwhile, opposition leader Yair Lapid criticized the finance minister for reports that the finance minister is freezing funds for evacuees and refusing to cut significant coalition funds.
The evacuees from Sderot at the Dead Sea // Photo: Yoni Rikner
On his Twitter account, the opposition leader wrote: "While IDF soldiers are risking their lives, Finance Minister Smotrich is harming the war effort, harming national resilience, harming Israeli society. He doesn't care about anything but the base. With the money of Israeli citizens, he does small, miserable politics in wartime. A normal finance minister would now insist on closing at least five unnecessary government ministries, canceling all coalition funds, and transferring the money to war expenses, helping the evacuees and helping businesses."
In response, Smotrich wrote: "Hello Yair, the ultra-Orthodox are not my base and I worry about ZAKA even if they are ultra-Orthodox just as I worry about anyone else who is part of the united people of Israel at the moment. It's really sad that even at these moments you can't free yourself from your campaign of hatred and incitement against the ultra-Orthodox. The people of Israel will win. Love will prevail."
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