Defense Minister Yoav Gallant issued a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday in which he claimed Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich refused to fund decisions made by Israel’s War Cabinet to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza from the state’s budget.
According to Gallant’s letter, the issue involves a budget related to humanitarian efforts, including the purchase of tents for the displaced Gaza population from Rafah, renovation of Route 10 used by humanitarian aid trucks in the Strip, extending operational hours at the Kerem Shalom, Nitzana, and Allenby border crossings, opening the Ashdod port for cargo delivery, and opening an additional crossing in the northern Gaza Strip to allow more aid trucks to enter the Palestinian enclave.
Gallant noted that the cabinet’s ministerial team expanded on these issues as an integral part of the efforts to achieve Israel’s war objectives. The minister added that the costs are estimated at 600 million shekels, which, according to the cabinet, is supposed to come from the war budget.
In his letter to Netanyahu, Gallant asserted these were operational decisions that were directly impacting the ongoing war. "Despite the guidelines provided by the ministerial team and immediate instructions to implement its decision, some actions aren’t being carried out due to conflicting directives from Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich."
Gallant accused Smotrich of delaying the implementation of the decision by refusing to deliver the required funds, thereby jeopardizing Israel’s management of the war.
"Non-compliance with these directives will jeopardize the required humanitarian response to allow the continuation of IDF operations in the Gaza Strip," Gallant wrote.