Israel Matzav

Government cuts security funding for Judea and Samaria Jews by 70%

Just what we didn't need right now.

Although the funds were apparently allocated, the government has cut funding for the security of Jews in Judea and Samaria by a whopping 70% this year. A major part of the funding cut is the result of the finance ministry's refusal to pay for shatterproof plastic windows on the revenants' cars, which must be replaced every 2-3 years (they absorb sand and it eventually becomes impossible to see through them), an expense that the government has always paid. Meanwhile stone throwing by 'Palestinians' has become more frequent.

Security officers in West Bank settlements have warned that government cutbacks to their security budget was greatly hindering their operational capability and could lead to disaster, such as a terrorist infiltration into a Jewish settlement, Army Radio reported. According to the report, the Finance Ministry has also stopped transferring funds for the installation of plastic windows in settlers' cars, despite the resent onslaught of rock throwing incidents in the West Bank.

The Home Front Command transfers the funds, which are mainly diverted towards maintaining the security infrastructure in West Bank settlements, on a yearly basis. This year, however, only part of the funds were transferred - not enough to maintain security fences and replace faulty equipment such as sensors and security cameras that broke down over the year. The cutbacks amounted to up to 70 percent of security needs in the settlements, the report stated.

The head of security at the Yesha Council, Shlomo Vaknin, told Army Radio that the cutbacks meant that a deadly terrorist infiltration into a West Bank settlement was only a matter of time.

"We need these funds right away," Vaknin said. "Actually, with the first glitch the systems will simply collapse, there will be cumulative damage, and it will not be long before a town is infiltrated without prior warning. It takes only one such infiltration to cause disaster."

MK Arye Eldad (NU-NRP), himself a resident of the settlement of Kfar Adumim, claimed that the cutbacks were politically motivated.

"There is a trend, which is becoming more and more noticeable, to forsake the security of the Jews in Judea and Samaria, especially those who live outside the security fence," he said. "Those who sacrifice the lives and security of the residents of Judea and Samaria will eventually also have blood on their hands."

...

The Defense Ministry for its part asserted that providing funds for fortifying cars of West Bank residents was not its responsibility: "Until 2002 the fortification of cars against rock throwing was carried out by the Transportation Ministry, with the Defense Ministry footing half of the costs and the Finance Ministry providing the other half. Since 2002 the fortification has been carried out by the Defense Ministry but the source of the funding remained as it was. In 2008, the Finance Ministry announced that it no longer intended to participate in the funding."

Add to the above the government's decision to reduce the number of weapons held by revenants, and you have to wonder whether the government even regards them as Israeli citizens anymore.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:13 PM