The Left (including Benny Ganz who joined the government) has been making a big fuss over the passage of the country's budget since it includes moneys that were allocated according to arrangements made in forming the government coalition. This fuss is just politics as usual, even in time of war, to attack the right, Bibi and the chareidim.
A billion shekel a day — this is the direct cost of the war according to the estimate of the experts. Fifty-one days of war are behind us, amounting to fifty-one billion shekel of war expenses, aside from the tens of billions which will be added to cover reparations of damages and settle accounts with all those who have incurred such losses.
But what seems to bother the Israeli media and Benny Ganz, the nationalist, is the coalition funds, adding up to a mere billion plus, a portion of which is allocated to the chareidim. Small talk compared to the enormous cost of the war, but money which is worth several votes to the new chareidi enemy. This clause of the budget awaiting government approval irks Benny Ganz, who threatens to leave.
The war interests him less in view of an upcoming election which is bound to surface eventually. Treasury Minister Smotrich, who fought to leave this money in the budget, not so much for the sake of the chareidim but because this also includes his favorites, published sharp words against Ganz and his compatriots:
"I am aware that I have no chance of challenging this lie; it is a tsunami threatening to drown everything. The media is mobilized from wall to wall: three Leftist daily financial newspapers, three channels, newspapers and general news websites — all without exception are mobilized for a foolproof campaign, in their eyes which incorporates everyone and what they seek avidly to attack, who love to hate and incite against in normal times: the Rightist government, Religious Zionists, the setters and the chareidim! And of course, against Netanyahu.
"They already have the budgets for pre-military institutes and youth movements, Sherut Leumi service and the Torah corps and the rest of their institutions. This also includes student organizations and a plethora of long-standing organizations of Jewish identity and culture. They have the budgets of historic Chamad, the budget of the sector for settlements of the local councils throughout the country which are begging them not to cut anything. Also, budgets for security divisions in Judea and Samaria to prepare themselves well for the new threats which have sadly been added after the Simchas Torah events.
"Let someone explain to me why hundreds of millions passed for emergency and security needs for local councils in the Gaza border settlements and for the northern border, without being considered as coalition money, and when we seek to do the exact same thing in Judea and Samaria, this is considered adverse coalition funds.
"They also have gained negligible salary raises for teachers in the chareidi school system whose current pay is lower than any teacher in the State so that same teacher from Ofakim who earns five thousand shekel a month will now receive an additional thousand to support a family of many children. The increments being paid for the past two months in the general public, has also been deposited in the accounts of the chareidi teachers. Whoever seeks to deny the chareidi teachers' supplement while leaving the same for all other teachers in the country and for the general public sector which received salary raises from funds which I signed together with their organizations, is seeking to discriminate against chareidim simply because they are chareidim, with no connection whatsoever with the war.
"The truth is that it is not at all clear which these funds are defined as coalitionary, nor why many billions distributed by the previous government to Israeli Arabs in coalition agreements with Mansour Abbas' party are not considered coalition monies. Why is the budget of the Rabin Center for Peace and the Peres Center for Peace, the Philharmonic Orchestra and the Habima Theater —- why are all these not considered coalition funds which no one would even suggest to transfer to the war cost? Why is it legitimate to add another 180 million shekel to the support of sport-culture, while the Jewish culture budget requires a cut because it is not connected to the war effort? "
These questions will remain without answers because no one will dare question the cost behind the huge signs of "United We Will Win" will discover that now, in the very midst of the war, that unity will stick to the billboards and not reflect any reality.
