Finance Ministry comes under attack at committee meeting

The Finance Ministry and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich came under attack in the Knesset's Finance Committee on Monday.

The meeting was held to discuss the economic assistance for those affected economically by the war. At the beginning of the meeting, an outline from the Finance Ministry was presented, but Smotrich and the ministry's director-general were not present.

The outline includes a series of allowances to cut costs for businesses that haven't been able to work such as delaying National Insurance payments for independents, postponing VAT payments, and extension of licenses.

Further assistance included full reimbursement for damage to buildings and equipment and other damages caused by the situation, but this would only apply to businesses up to seven k.m. away from the Gaza border. For businesses further away, the government would fully reimburse damage to buildings and equipment but would only give a singular grant to cover other damages. This grant would be determined based on a number of criteria like the business's income.

The outline was heavily criticized by representatives of residents and industries from the South, as was Smotrich's absence.

Economy Minister Nir Barkat told the meeting that he had warned Smotrich during the previous cabinet meeting that the outline was not a good one.

Far-reaching ramifications

Meanwhile, many who spoke at the meeting attacked the seven k.m. restriction for compensation, saying that there were plenty of businesses and towns outside of that area who had been hit hard by Hamas's October 7 attack and the resulting war.

Eshkol Regional Council head Gadi Yarkoni spoke strongly against the government's response to the situation, especially the Finance Ministry's.

"The State of Israel doesn't understand what happened on October 7," he said.

He went on to accuse the Finance Ministry and Economy Ministry of neglecting his regional council and their industries. He told the meeting he has had to pay hotels for his residents who evacuated without help from the government.

This criticism was also voiced by Federation of Local Authorities in Israel chairman Haim Bibas on Saturday in a panel on N12. During his interview, Bibas attacked the government's ministries, and the Finance Ministry in particular, for their failure to act and function in the past two weeks.

Like Yarkoni, Bibas said he had had to fund the evacuation of residents from the South without help from the government.