A fierce dispute erupted Thursday between chareidi parties and Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich after he decided at the last minute not to bring a funding package worth more than one billion shekels for new communities in Judea and Samaria to the cabinet for approval. Instead, the proposal will now be discussed at Sunday’s Security Cabinet meeting.

Associates of the finance minister said the decision stemmed from diplomatic concerns and international sensitivity surrounding settlement development. Chareidi political sources, however, argue that moving the matter from the government table to the Security Cabinet was also intended to reduce public scrutiny over both the source of the funds and their distribution.

The controversy follows a letter sent by United Torah Judaism chairman Yitzchak Goldknopf, who urged Smotrich to include the chareidi cities of Immanuel and Modiin Illit in the funding package. Goldknopf argued that there was no justification for excluding chareidi communities located in Judea and Samaria from the program. According to party sources, Smotrich declined the request.

A senior chareidi official sharply criticized the move, telling local media, “You killed and then inherited. Smotrich took more than a billion shekels for Judea and Samaria, including funds that had been frozen from the chareidi public, and instead of bringing the decision to a government meeting and facing criticism, he transferred it to the Security Cabinet under the pretext of diplomatic pressure.”

The official claimed that the move was designed to avoid a public debate over how the money is being allocated, why chareidi communities were left out, and why funds that had previously been removed from the Torah world and chareidi institutions are now being redirected elsewhere.

“This is an attempt to avoid a public discussion about how the money is being distributed, why the chareidi cities were excluded, and why funds taken away from the Torah world and chareidi institutions are now being directed to other purposes,” the source said.

The anger within the chareidi camp has also focused on a recent increase in funding for hesder yeshivos. According to sources in United Torah Judaism, Smotrich approved an increase in the funding formula for hesder institutions worth approximately 30 million shekels, even as chareidi yeshivos continue to contend with budget freezes and reductions.

Party officials argue that the decision reflects a pattern of favoritism toward institutions associated with Smotrich’s constituency while the chareidi educational system faces growing financial challenges.

“At a time when Gedolei Yisroel are traveling across the globe to raise money to sustain the Torah world, the finance minister is making sure to increase funding for the yeshivos identified with his own community,” the official said. “You cannot demand political partnership from the chareidim while systematically favoring the institutions and communities of one sector over another.”

{Matzav.com}