At the end of a meeting between the representatives of the Ministries of Finance and the Interior, with the participation of the heads of Arab authorities and the head of the Shabak, it was decided that the funds that Finance Minister Smotrich announced he would not transfer to the Arab authorities, will be transferred through a mechanism to be established in the Ministry of the Interior.
At the same time, a package of laws will be promoted that will grant powers for criminal and economic enforcement against the criminal organizations in Arab society. In addition, the Ministry of Finance will immediately budget tens of millions of shekels for technological measures required by the Israel Police to increase enforcement and personal security in Arab society.
During the meeting, the heads of the Arab authorities agreed to the principle according to which all the budgets will be transferred through activation, supervision and control mechanisms that will ensure the transfer of the budgets to the benefit of the Arab citizens of Israel, and not to the criminal organizations.
According to the decision, these mechanisms will be formulated and approved by the government within two weeks. In accordance with this, the Ministry of Finance will immediately transfer the ongoing budget for 2023 to the Ministry of Interior. This transfer is contingent on the commitment of the Minister of Interior that the budgets will only be transferred to the authorities after the aforementioned mechanisms have been formulated.
