Coalition funds and other funds designated for political purposes can only be used for the needs of the war in Gaza, the Attorney-General’s Office ruled on Tuesday night.
The ruling was given in a letter penned by Deputy Attorney-General Meir Levin in a response to a question put to the A-G’s office by a number of law offices.
Levin based his response on a number of government decisions since the start of the war that prevent coalition funds from being used for any purpose other than the war. As such, he said, the default was now that the funds must be used for the war and that a special government decision would need to be made for any other uses.
The A-G’s instructions come after coalition funds have been debated continuously over the course of the last month with many claiming that freezing them wasn’t enough and that they needed to be transferred immediately to the war effort.
Meanwhile, NIS 300 million from coalition funds were approved for ultra-Orthodox education earlier this week in a decision that was heavily criticized, mainly by the opposition. Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid said the government should have made the same decision a month ago.
Opposition praises the ruling
Yesh Atid MK Vladimir Beliak, who is part of the Finance Committee, echoed Lapid’s sentiment.
“It’s very important that the parliamentary and public struggle that we waged as the opposition in the Finance Committee in the last few weeks paid off,” he added. “In the situation we find ourselves, it’s essential that every shekel in the country’s treasury serves the needs of the front and the home front.”
Labor MK Gilad Kariv, who is also a member of the Finance Committee, added that it is everyone’s job to “clarify to this neglectful and shameless government that we won’t make do with freezing.”
The Movement for Quality of Government had petitioned the High Court of Justice to ban the use of coalition funds for purposes not related to the war.
“This is an extremely important decision,” the organization said in a statement. “In the absence of a different adult in the government, it’s good that the attorney-general is taking on the responsibility and stopping the scandalous distribution of coalition funds.”