Deputy finance minister resigns to dedicate her time, office’s budget to war efforts

Deputy Finance Minister Michal Woldiger announced Thursday that she was resigning from the government in order to divert her office’s budget and resources to assist in the war against Hamas, and to free up her own time to visit and aid those traumatized by the October 7 onslaught and strengthen “societal resilience.”

Woldiger, of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party, is the second minister to quit the government since the war in Gaza began.

In a lengthy Facebook post, she said the national shock experienced when thousands of Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, butchered some 1,400 people and abducted over 220 to Gaza, “turned our world upside down” and radically changed national priorities.

Woldiger said many are now wondering how the unprecedented intelligence and operational failure occurred and who was responsible, adding that this must fully come to light after the war is over, but that right now Israel must unite to achieve a decisive military victory and crush the “Nazi” terror group, as Israeli leaders have vowed to do.

She contended that such victory was impossible without a “spiritual victory” in the form of tackling and solving the hardships experienced by those affected the most by the war — families of those killed or kidnapped, people forced to evacuate their homes near the Gaza or Lebanon borders, and citizens going through personal, mental or financial problems.

Since the war erupted, Woldiger said, she has dedicated most of her time to visiting grieving families, attending funerals, meeting the wounded and families of hostages, and trying to help the some 200,000 internally displaced Israelis.

She said she was seeing widespread criticism of the state apparatus and of the leadership, which is perceived as not doing enough to tackle these challenges, and she wanted to dedicate all her strength to restoring this trust, “strengthening societal resilience, improving the mental health system, helping these families and having an increased presence in the field and among the citizens.”

This, she added, would be more easily achievable for her “as a regular Knesset member and without ministerial dealings in the Finance Ministry.”

Additionally, she said that all available government resources should be redirected toward war-related efforts, especially when it comes to the Finance Ministry.

She said she had informed Smotrich of her decision.

The finance minister said in a statement that he accepted Woldiger’s resignation, hailing her “holy work” in the fields of mental health, healthcare and welfare, and calling her “a true team player completely devoid of ego.

The first to resign from the government was Public Diplomacy Minister Galit Distel Atbaryan of the ruling Likud party, who concluded that absent any real powers, her ministry — formed when the current government was sworn in at the end of last year — had become a “waste of public funds” with no justification for its existence.

The cabinet decided earlier this week to disband the ministry entirely and redirect the office’s unused budget, NIS 9.4 million ($2.3 million) for 2023 and NIS 14.4 million ($3.5 million) for 2024, to the new Tekuma Authority, charged with rehabilitating the devastated western Negev and rebuilding trust in the government.

The authority will also receive the defunct ministry’s 29 full-time employee allocation. The decision will soon be brought to the Knesset for finalization.