Finance Committee approves new ministries' budget

Knesset committee grants Prime Minister's Office additional NIS 140 million to fund new ministries, NIS 245 million to finance Likud's coalitional obligations

Reuters | Published: 09.09.09, 19:45

The Knesset's Finance Committee approved an additional NIS 140 million (approx. $37.4 million) budget for the Prime Minister's Office Wednesday, to fund the government's new ministries.

The funds will be distributed as follows:

Security expenditures: NIS 12 million ($3.2 million)

Ministry of Regional Development: NIS 50 million ($13.37 million), plus NIS 17 million ($4.54 million) for the development of the Negev and Galilee and NIS 1.7 million ($450,000) for Deputy Minister Ayoob Kara's office
Ministry of Information: NIS 31 million ($8.3 million)
Ministry of Minority Affairs: NIS 12 million ($3.21 million)
Ministry of Strategic Affairs: NIS 8.1 million ($2.17 million)
Ministry of Intelligence Services: NIS 2.8 million ($750,000)
Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office: NIS 3.5 million ($940,000).

The committee also approved NIS 245 million ($65.5 million) to finance the Likud's coalitional obligations to Labor and Yisrael Beiteinu.

The decisions were harshly criticized by Kadima: "The biggest, most spendthrift government in Israel's history has broken yet another record with its gall, by proving there is one thing it will not freeze – the ministers-of-nothing and deputy ministers-of-null's budgets.

"(Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu has lost all shame. Only a completely detached prime minister, who is concerned with nothing other than his own political survival, can ignore the public like this."