Religious council in financial crisis

'This unprecedented financial crisis has occurred despite proper management of the religious council.'

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
The Haifa religious council is in an unprecedented financial crisis and cannot afford to pay its employees following a government-imposed cut to its funding, reports Yediot Haifa. The council says it has used up the last of its credit and can neither pay its own employees nor help the needy as it usually does before Pessah. "This unprecedented financial crisis has occurred despite proper management of the religious council," a council spokesman said. "This is a religious council that is functioning well, that has not received any complaints about its management, that does not waste money, and still there has been a drastic cut in the budget - which has brought us to a crisis." According to the report, the council recently asked the Supreme Court to instruct the government to pay the council its annual budget of NIS 5 million immediately. The court ordered the government to respond within one week, but government lawyers asked for a delay of six weeks, and the council has now run out of money. No response from the government was reported.