Smotrich again vows not to release funds for Arab towns without further oversight

23 August 2023, 7:43 pm

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Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich at a press conference in Jerusalem on August 9, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich again reiterates his refusal to transfer hundreds of millions in budgeted funding to Arab municipalities, as ministers convene to discuss record levels of homicides in the communities.

“Organized crime relies on money,” he says in a statement, “and most of this money, which is the State of Israel’s, instead of serving Arab Israeli citizens… reaches the same protection collectors.”

Smotrich, who heads the far-right Religious Zionism party, calls for oversight mechanisms to ensure the money reaches its intended target.

“We will hold a dialogue with all the relevant government ministries, formulate these mechanisms and only then release the funds,” he says.