The revised 2024 budget has passed its first reading in the Knesset, but Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich continues to act to increase the funds for coalition party spending from the public purse. In a discussion in the Knesset Finance Committee yesterday, Ministry of Finance representatives admitted that beyond the NIS 5.5 billion already in the budget, an additional NIS 170 million is planned to be made available to the national-religious parties and the haredi United Torah Judaism party, and awaits legal approval.
Half of the intended supplement - NIS 86 million - will be allocated to the Ministry of Settlements and National Missions headed by Orit Strook, a member of Smotrich’s Religious Zionist Party. The rest will be divided between the Ministry of Heritage, headed by Amihai Eliyahu of the Jewish National Front (Otzma Yehudit) party, the Ministry of Jerusalem Affairs and Jewish Heritage headed by Meir Porush of the United Torah Judaism Party, and the Jewish Identity Authority, headed by Avi Maoz, sole Knesset representative of the Noam party.
The story of this money began a month ago. At that time, Smotrich delayed presenting the budget bill to the Knesset, in breach of the Basic Law: The State Economy. One of the main reasons for the delay was that he was waiting for a legal opinion that would permit the coalition funds to be part of the budget. The finance minister managed to collect only some of the opinions required before he was forced to present the budget, without part of the coalition funds that the government wanted.
It turns out that Smotrich and his colleagues did not give up. What they did not manage to introduce into the budget they will pass "retroactively" through diversion of funds in the Finance Committee. Where will the money come from? The Ministry of Finance was prepared for that. On the assumption that the necessary legal opinions would eventually be obtained, the ministry’s Budgets Division kept NIS 170 million in the budget reserve item.
The lion’s share of the money reserved for the Ministry of Settlements and National Missions is not the first supplement to be received by Orit Strook’s ministry. In the Finance Committee discussion, MK Orit Farkash-Hacohen (National Unity Party) insisted on receiving a detailed account of the ministry’s budget. The response from the Ministry of Finance made clear how it has ballooned.
The basic budget for the tiny ministry is just NIS 130 million. Two months ago, in the revision of the 2023 budget, which was meant to accommodate the needs of the war, it was allocated a further NIS 450 million. Now, in the new 2024 budget, it will receive supplements totaling some NIS 200 million. If that were not enough, it is due to receive another NIS 86 million later on. In short, Strook will receive about NIS 1 billion to inject into her party’s political base in Judea and Samaria.
Smotrich’s delay in presenting the budget stemmed from an additional cause. Besides approval for the coalition funds, he was also waiting for legal opinions on making these funds part of the regular budget. In the Finance Committee, it emerged that his stalling, which led to a huge flat cut of NIS 67 billion in spending by government ministries while the new budget was awaited, paid off for Smotrich. In the interim, he managed to change the definition of NIS 200 million of the coalition funds for the Ministry of Settlements and National Missions and to transfer this sum to the regular budget. The advantage of this for his party is that the money will not be subject to the same close control applied by the Ministry of Finance to spending of coalition funds.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on February 26, 2024.
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