From the Liveblog of
Thursday, November 7, 2024
Minister calls on Netanyahu to reverse decision appointing Elkin to oversee rebuilding of north, south
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Negev, Galilee and National Resilience Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party calls on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to appoint New Hope lawmaker Ze’ev Elkin as a minister in the Finance Ministry.
According to the coalition agreement signed by New Hope and Likud yesterday, Elkin will oversee the Tekuma Directorate, tasked with rehabilitating the Gaza border communities overrun by Hamas terrorists on October 7, and the Northern Rehabilitation Directorate.
In a statement, Wasserlauf appeals to Netanyahu to instead bolster his own ministry, arguing that Elkin’s appointment creates administrative overlap and “could lead to increased bureaucracy and a delay in projects essential to the development of the region.”
A spokesman for Elkin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Wasserlauf’s complaint comes as the coalition adds two new ministerial roles for New Hope MKs Elkin and Sharren Haskel despite also advancing a new state budget containing massive cuts across the government in order to finance the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Rebuilding the areas affected by the war has gone slowly, with almost none having taken place thus far.
Last month, lawmakers in the Knesset Economics Committee heard that the Tekuma Directorate will be forced to delay critical development plans unless the Finance Ministry releases NIS 5 billion ($1.3 billion) of the directorate’s NIS 19 billion ($5 billion) budget.
