In the State Comptroller's report on his investigation of the
activities of the political parties in the 1998 municipal
elections, Degel HaTorah received high marks in respect to
its expenses and income and in the overall management of the
party. However, it received a negative report regarding the
management of the local councils, due to the party's
irregular expenses throughout the country, and was fined
30,000 shekel.
This low fine was given by the Comptroller, Eliezer Goldberg,
after Rabbi Moshe Gafni met with him and a number of other
party members and explained that the Law of Party Subsidies,
as it pertains to local councils, is problematic. In a number
of local councils, UTJ "missed" getting one seat or a second
seat by only a few votes. In the event that a party does not
receive the hoped-for mandate, the law determines that it
must return the advance subsidy of 60% of the total to which
it would be entitled if it wins, which it received as an
advance prior to the elections
Rabbi Gafni explained to the State Comptroller that this law
is enigmatic. "On the one hand, the party is eligible to
receive an advance of 60% per mandate. However, if the party
fails to receive sufficient votes to gain the mandate, the
law determines that it was illegal for it to use any of that
money, in retrospect," Rabbi Gafni told the Comptroller.
Rabbi Gafni said that he intends to file a proposal to amend
the law. Rabbi Gafni cited as an example the party's
experience in Dimona, where only two votes were missing for
another seat. There was a similar scenario in Or Yehuda, as
well as other places, he noted.
UTJ asked the State Comptroller to take this fact into
consideration and not register a negative report. The
Comptroller told the party that although its claims are
legitimate, the law obligates him to register a negative
report. In the end, however, he considered the circumstances
and fined UTJ only NIS 30,000 for its management of the
election campaign throughout the country.
