The Knesset Finance Committee today approved an across-the-board cut for government ministries totaling NIS 740 million. Nine MKS voted for, one was against and one abstained.
Eleven MKS attended the Finance Committee debate on the budget cut today after last week not a single MK turned up and committee chairman MK Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism) postponed the meeting on the grounds that he did not want to make the decision on his own.
The funds made available by the cut will be used to combat illegal immigration from the Sinai, preparing the Home Front for future emergencies and keeping within the budget framework.
Gafni agreed to support the cut after the Ministry of Finance said that it could not fund other important topics without the cut, which was approved by the cabinet several months ago.
Ministry of Finance representative Eyal Epstein who attended the meeting said that it was not so much an across-the-board cut as rearranging priorities at government ministries.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 25, 2012
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