The heads of the Arab local authorities demonstrated today (Sunday) in front of the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem in protest of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's decision to freeze a special grant of NIS 200 million that the previous government promised to Arab authorities.
The Kol al-Arab news website reported that the demonstrators demanded that the government cancel the moratorium decision, stating that the Arab residents are entitled to the funds intended for them because they pay taxes.
The demonstrators also called on the government to eradicate crime and violence in Arab society and waved banners that read: "We want to live" and "The ISA is the problem, not the solution."
Adel Badir, the mayor of Kafr Qassem, called the Finance Minister's decision to freeze the grant money to the local authorities "a clearly racist decision".
"Smotrich's claims that funds from the budget go to terrorist organizations are untrue statements," Badir said, accusing the finance minister of "hatred towards the Arabs of Israel and not putting their cause in the order of priorities."
According to him, "the frozen funds are not related to tenders, but are part of the regular budget transferred to the local authorities."
Badir added that "the Arab local authorities intend in the coming days to escalate the protest measures against the Finance Minister's decision, and in this context, the opening of the school year on September 1 will not be possible."