Social Equality Minister Amichai Chikli spoke out against Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's decision to freeze funds intended for local authorities in the Arab community.
In a letter to Smotrich, Chikli wrote: "As the Minister of Trust for the Authority for Economic Development in the Arab Society and the implementation of the government's plans in the sector, I consider it an obligation to comment on your decision to stop the transfer of the balance budgets to Arab authorities."
Chikli admitted that "there is indeed an unparalleled serious problem of criminal elements taking over the tenders in some Arab authorities" and clarified that "at the same time, there is no justification and no sense in denying balancing grants that the authorities relied on in planning their annual budget, grants whose denial would lead to entering into deficits and stopping basic services for the residents ".
He stated: "My position as Minister of Social Equality is that we must act to transfer the budgets to the authorities. Despite the fact that the Hirsch report did not deal with the current budget, but with the development budgets, it is possible to draw from its recommendations components that will enable better supervision of the current budget as well."
Chikli explained how it will be possible to monitor the funds: "1. Creation of framework tenders for collecting waste and vehicles, in areas where a particularly high involvement of criminal organizations was found. 2. Establishment of a pool of approved contractors for work in the field of local authorities with a police investigation individually for each contractor. 3. The establishment of a tenders committee based on the professionals in the authority and not on the members of the council. 4. Changing the method of payment in tenders with an emphasis on the prohibition of checks deducted for cash, or payment in cash and charging payment through bank transfers."
In conclusion, he wrote: "In addition, I propose to establish, as part of the project to establish a minority division in the territorial districts of the Israel Police, a dedicated unit for the supervision of tenders in the Arab authorities within the framework of the current budget."