Report: Finance Ministry delaying transfer of funds for more shelters in high-risk towns

The Finance Ministry is dragging its feet on the transfer of funds to build more shelters in communities at high risk of Iranian missile fire, Army Radio reports.

This morning, MKs Naor Shiri (Yesh Atid) and Naama Lazimi (Labor) submitted an inquiry to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich regarding the holdup on an NIS 100 million ($29 million) budget to bolster protective infrastructure.

The plan, undertaken in a joint decision by the Defense Ministry and IDF Home Front Command, would set aside NIS 50 million to construct portable shelters in areas with a shortage of protected spaces.

These shelters will first go up in the Gush Dan area in central Israel. Afterwards, more will be built in the Shfela (Judean foothills) region, then the Krayot, a cluster of suburbs just north of Haifa, Kan reported earlier this week.

Unlike the portable shelters scattered throughout the south to protect communities near the Gaza border, these structures will be better suited for the Iranian missile threat, with closable doors, providing better defense against ballistic missile shrapnel.

חשיפת "כאן חדשות": החלה הצבת מיגוניות "ארבל" במרכזי ערים במרכז הארץ במקומות ללא מספיק ממ"דים ומרחבים מוגנים. תיעוד מעכשיו מרמת השרון pic.twitter.com/G7wMlfsXIC

— איתי בלומנטל ???????? Itay Blumental (@ItayBlumental) June 18, 2025

The other half of the budget is to go to renovating already-existing shelters, improving their electricity, ventilation and plumbing systems, using Defense Ministry contractors.

The IDF and Defense Ministry submitted the request two days ago to the Finance Ministry, but the latter is apparently demanding to see the full plans before greenlighting the initiative.

Sources familiar with the issue tell Army Radio that dozens of shelters could have already been placed in high-risk areas if not for the days of delay amid ballistic missile fire from Iran.

Despite the holdup, several locales in the Gush Dan area have already received portable shelters from the Home Front Command, including Bnei Brak and Ramat Hasharon.

Both the Defense Ministry and Finance Ministry declined to respond to Army Radio’s requests for comment.