The Kadima faction presented a motion of no-confidence in the government Thursday under the heading: “Netanyahu pays hush money to hilltop youth at the expense of the periphery, settlement blocs and Israel's national interests.”
The motion refers to the decision to change the list of communities whose residents receive benefits in education, employment and infrastructures to include some communities in areas of Israel's heartland that were liberated in 1967 (Judea and Samaria).
Kadima emphasized that “the national preference map has turned, under Netanyahu's hands, into a political map that expends public funds for the encouragement of isolated settlements, and completely cancels out Netanyahu's statements on the subject of 'two states for two peoples.'”
Media reports have presented the decision to grant benefits to Judea/Samaria communities as a way of compensating the residents for the previous decision to freeze Jewish construction there.
The Prime Minister's Bureau told Arutz Sheva, however, that this interpretation was baseless: “Work on the new map of national priorities began five months ago,” said Bureau Chief Eyal Gabbai. “Over the past few weeks we have just been working on formulations, so that nothing was changed after the freeze announcement.”