Israeli finance minister suspends funds to Arab towns, East Jerusalem
Source: Reuters
Israeli finance minister suspends funds to Arab towns, East Jerusalem
By Henriette Chacar and Maayan Lubell
August 8, 2023 6:34 AM EDT Updated 4 hours ago
JERUSALEM, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has frozen funds for Arab towns and Palestinian education programmes in East Jerusalem, citing crime and safety fears and prompting accusations of racism.
Smotrich, a key member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's nationalist-religious government, said on Monday some of the budget funds meant for Arab local councils were a political pay-off by the previous cabinet that could end up in the hands of "criminals and terrorists".
"The priorities of our national government... are different from those of the previous leftist government and we should not apologise for that," said Smotrich, head of the pro-settler Religious Zionism party whose past comments about the Palestinians have drawn international condemnation.
Israel's public broadcaster Kan first reported the freeze on Sunday when it published a letter from Interior Minister Moshe Arbel to Smotrich, urging him to release 200 million shekels ($54 million) of the funds at stake that are intended for administration and another 100 million for economic development.
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Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-finance-minister-suspends-funds-arab-towns-east-jerusalem-2023-08-08/
Non-paywalled link: https://news.yahoo.com/israeli-finance-minister-suspends-funds-103413472.html