Smotrich reverses suspension of funds to Arab communities in Israel

News Desk - The Cradle 

The Israeli minister previously froze the funds claiming the the money would fall into the hands of "criminals and terrorists"

Israeli Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich (Photo Credit: Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg)

Israel's Jewish supremacist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced on 28 August that he would unblock funds earmarked for local Arab communities that he suspended earlier this month.

Smotrich and his political partner, Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, had previously withheld $55 million in funding for Arab municipalities in Israel and froze another $670 million for Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem. Instead, Smotrich allocated $180 million of the funds to boost the Israeli economy and increase security measures in illegal Jewish settlements across the occupied West Bank and in "unregulated areas."

The finance minister had claimed providing money to Arab communities in Israel would end up in the hands of "criminals and terrorists."

The reversal came after outrage from local mayors and some lawmakers. Arab-majority councils held a strike last week in protest, and community leaders demonstrated outside government offices. The National Committee of Arab Local Councils in Israel also accused Smotrich of racism.

This development comes a month after the far-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorized the construction of nearly 5,700 new settlement units in the occupied West Bank, with support for the proposal from Smotrich and Ben Gvir.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced the settlement plans as "a new crime committed by the Israeli government against our people and an extension of its open war against Palestinian existence."

Jewish Israeli settlers regularly establish outposts and settlements on Palestinian land illegally without government authorization. These settlements are often later legitimatized by Israeli authorities to annex Palestinian land, despite being recognized as illegal by international bodies such as the UN.

The Israeli annexation effort has included regular attacks by settlers on Palestinians and Israeli army raids into Palestinian towns and refugee camps in recent months. The raids have focused on Jericho, Nablus, and Jenin to target Palestinian armed resistance groups.

Earlier this month, Smotrich and several other officials in Netanyahu's coalition government also greenlit settler attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

A report issued on 10 August by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and Amnesty International documented the displacement of seven Palestinian communities in the West Bank due to settler violence and settlement expansion.