In an effort to win back Knesset seats lost to Shinui in the last election, parties on the left have been sparing no effort to chastise Shinui leader, MK Yosef “Tommy” Lapid, for trading in his party’s support for the State budget, for NIS 700 million in allocations for projects amenable to his party.
Ironically, Shinui, which ran on a platform berating Haredi ultra-orthox parties for selling their votes in the Knesset in order to extort taxpayers’ money to pay for students who study in Haredi-sponsored schools, is now being attacked for doing the very same thing.
MK Yuli Tamir is accusing Lapid of intending to violate the criminal code for announcing his plan to transfer NIS 30 million of his NIS 700 million prize to a college headed by the president of the Shinui Council, Prof. Uriel Reichman. Reichman is the head of the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies in Herzliya.
Tamir said that in her opinion, the transfer would be “in violation of the Criminal Code, and Tomy Lapid, if he were a mayor, would be sitting in jail” for making an allocation to an institution headed by a senior party official.
MK Roni Berizon (Shinui) defended his party’s right to disperse what in the United States would be called political “pork” as it sees fit, according to the party’s order of priorities. He said of Shinui’s NIS 700 million budgetary prize, NIS 315 million will be allocated to higher education. It would be wrong, he said, for Shinui to allocate money to colleges and universities, while leaving Reichman’s institute off the list.
“If the money is distributed, we cannot discriminate against students at the Interdisciplinary Center. That would constitute unconscionable discrimination, and if they were to petition to the High Court of Justice, the court would rule in their favor,” explained Berizon. He added that Reichman has not requested any money from Shinui.
Not to be outdone, Tamir said that she would file a petition with the High Court if Shinui goes forward with its proposed allocation.
She explained that Reichman’s college has never received funding from the state. She said that new academic institutions, such as Reichman’s Interdisciplinary Center, were sanctioned by the government on condition that they would not appeal to the State for funds.
Prof. Reichman responded to the accusations, emphasizing that his school has not made any formal request for funding to the Shinui leader. He said, however, that in the case of his school and the other colleges that are not state supported, the money will be allocated to the students and not to his center.
The colleges, he said, would not raise tuition fees in consideration of the monetary grants their students are supposed to receive, thanks to Lapid’s largesse.
Reichman also lashed out at Tamir, calling her criticism “an unfortunate statement that serves as evidence that there also are good people who are inclined to degenerate into the prevailing political culture in Israel.”
Lapid also took Tamir to task, undeterred by yesterday’s sparring match with MK Zehava Gal’on (Yahad). “Does Prof. Tamir refrain from allocating money or dealing with the university she teaches in?” he asked.
Yesterday, Lapid had to retract his retort to MK Gal’on after calling her a prostitute. “Like children say, 'she started,'” intoned Lapid, “but since she was insulted, and I didn’t intend it, and being a Euopean gentleman, I’m sorry if she was hurt, and I retract my words.”
Ironically, Shinui, which ran on a platform berating Haredi ultra-orthox parties for selling their votes in the Knesset in order to extort taxpayers’ money to pay for students who study in Haredi-sponsored schools, is now being attacked for doing the very same thing.
MK Yuli Tamir is accusing Lapid of intending to violate the criminal code for announcing his plan to transfer NIS 30 million of his NIS 700 million prize to a college headed by the president of the Shinui Council, Prof. Uriel Reichman. Reichman is the head of the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies in Herzliya.
Tamir said that in her opinion, the transfer would be “in violation of the Criminal Code, and Tomy Lapid, if he were a mayor, would be sitting in jail” for making an allocation to an institution headed by a senior party official.
MK Roni Berizon (Shinui) defended his party’s right to disperse what in the United States would be called political “pork” as it sees fit, according to the party’s order of priorities. He said of Shinui’s NIS 700 million budgetary prize, NIS 315 million will be allocated to higher education. It would be wrong, he said, for Shinui to allocate money to colleges and universities, while leaving Reichman’s institute off the list.
“If the money is distributed, we cannot discriminate against students at the Interdisciplinary Center. That would constitute unconscionable discrimination, and if they were to petition to the High Court of Justice, the court would rule in their favor,” explained Berizon. He added that Reichman has not requested any money from Shinui.
Not to be outdone, Tamir said that she would file a petition with the High Court if Shinui goes forward with its proposed allocation.
She explained that Reichman’s college has never received funding from the state. She said that new academic institutions, such as Reichman’s Interdisciplinary Center, were sanctioned by the government on condition that they would not appeal to the State for funds.
Prof. Reichman responded to the accusations, emphasizing that his school has not made any formal request for funding to the Shinui leader. He said, however, that in the case of his school and the other colleges that are not state supported, the money will be allocated to the students and not to his center.
The colleges, he said, would not raise tuition fees in consideration of the monetary grants their students are supposed to receive, thanks to Lapid’s largesse.
Reichman also lashed out at Tamir, calling her criticism “an unfortunate statement that serves as evidence that there also are good people who are inclined to degenerate into the prevailing political culture in Israel.”
Lapid also took Tamir to task, undeterred by yesterday’s sparring match with MK Zehava Gal’on (Yahad). “Does Prof. Tamir refrain from allocating money or dealing with the university she teaches in?” he asked.
Yesterday, Lapid had to retract his retort to MK Gal’on after calling her a prostitute. “Like children say, 'she started,'” intoned Lapid, “but since she was insulted, and I didn’t intend it, and being a Euopean gentleman, I’m sorry if she was hurt, and I retract my words.”