Is the Finance Ministry trying to prevent funds from going to the settlements despite being led by a Religious Zionist Party minister and without his knowing?
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Israel Hayom can reveal that a previously unknown meeting between the Accountant General Department's officials and members of the Finance Ministry's legal counsel was aimed at reversing a decision by former Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked to transfer tens of millions of shekels to the coffers of Jewish municipalities in Judea and Samaria. Smotrich was apparently not part of the meeting, nor was he made aware of it until it happened.
During the meeting, various ideas were floated as to how to ensure the funds won't be appropriated. The meeting was likely kept under wraps because such a decision if it were to be finalized, could draw outrage among constituents of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who considers himself a champion of the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.
Israel Hayom's reporting suggests that the municipalities are to be dealt a heavy financial blow if the funding will be pulled, as they have already budgeted some of their activities on the assumption that they would get it.
Video: Mourners bid farewell to Palestinian killed by Jewish settlers in West Bank / Credit: Reuters
The Accountant General Department told Israel Hayom that it was "not going to comment on the content of the meeting and the decisions made." The statement further read that the department "regularly holds professional-level meetings on a host of issues, including those pertaining to the debts of municipalities all across Israel to the state."
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