Smotrich accuses Netanyahu of blocking funds for lowering cost of living, amid escalating feud

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of hindering an initiative to lower the soaring cost of living by making use of some of the money Israel has withheld from the Palestinian Authority over its stipends to terrorists.

“Unfortunately, you are preventing the advancement of the law for unclear reasons,” Smotrich charges. “It can’t be that the concern for the Palestinian Authority is greater than for the citizens of Israel.”

The attack comes a day after a report — denied by the finance minister — said Smotrich has been refusing to meet with Netanyahu to discuss the cost of living, using the issue as leverage to demand a Rafah offensive first.

Smotrich has repeatedly criticized Israel’s war tactics in Gaza, demanding more decisive military action and fewer concessions in hostage deal talks. He has gone as far as threatening to bolt the government if what he terms a “surrender” deal is approved.

According to Shalom Yerushalmi, an analyst for The Times of Israel’s Hebrew-language sister site, Zman Yisrael, Netanyahu is likely trying to pin the blame for the rising cost of living on Smotrich.

Smotrich, says Yerushalmi, is seen by Netanyahu as only caring about West Bank settlements, having allegedly struck a deal handing the management of the country’s economy to Bank of Israel officials and to the ministry’s Budget Department.

“Israel’s economy is too much for him,” a senior official in Netanyahu’s office says. “Smotrich entered the Finance Ministry for the first time in his life. It took him time to understand what was happening, so he decided to make a deal… he told them, ‘You take care of this, just give me the settlements.'”