Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked said Thursday she decided to closely monitor budgets provided to Israeli Arab councils despite the danger the move may pose to the ramshackle government coalition.
The monitoring mechanisms will apply to routine funds allocated to the sector as well as money intended for councils' development. According to Shaked the decision was made in an effort to make sure criminal elements - which are prevalent in the Arab sector - don't get hold of the funds.
Israel's latest five-year plan meant to boost socioeconomic development of Arab communities, allots about 700 million NIS to the sector for projects that deal with welfare, transportation, healthcare, education and more.
As the coalition is hanging by a thread, however, Shaked's close supervision of the funds is bound to aggravate Arab politicians who are already on edge.
On Monday, heads of Arab parties in the government and in the opposition refused to okay the law on the legal status of settlers in the West Bank, which was tabled by the coalition.
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Arab politicians - Mazen Ghnaim and Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi
(Photo: Amit Shavi, Yoav Dudkevitch)
Shaked's decision will effectively transfer all of Interior Ministry's tenders on development of infrastructure from Arab local authorities to national mechanisms. The monitoring mechanism will be under the authority of Interior Ministry Director-General Yair Hirsch, and several other representatives of the attorney general.
More so, a pool of contractors that are eligible to apply for the development tenders will be approved by the police.
Shaked's outline will also see the funds allocated for the Arab communities' welfare purposes monitored by the Interior Ministry, and money will no longer be transferred all at once, but rather in monthly stipends.
A local authority looking to receive a grant will have to go through the Interior Ministry's monitoring mechanisms and prove that it intends to invest the budget in substantial projects. Additionally, the authorities will be required to prove that the field the grants had been invested in were improved.
"This isn't a punishment for anyone," said an Interior Ministry official. "The Arab councils are part of the local authorities of Israel and we want to develop them. Until today, however, the development budgets haven't reached their intended targets, and we want to make sure that they do."