Association for Civil Rights: Government's response to High Court reveals serious flaw in decision to cut Arab community budgets
The Association for Civil Rights confirmed that the government's response to its petition to the High Court proves the illegality of the decision to cut approximately half a billion shekels from the five-year plan for the Arab community and transfer them to the police and Shin Bet, and demanded an urgent interim order to stop the decision.
The Association for Civil Rights confirmed that the government's response to its petition submitted to the High Court reveals a serious flaw in the government's decision to cut approximately half a billion shekels from the budgets of the five-year plan for the Arab community and transfer them to the police and the General Security Service (Shin Bet). The association, in a response submitted to the court on Wednesday evening, demanded the issuance of an urgent interim order to stop the transfer of funds and the implementation of the decision until the petition is decided. The association noted that the relevant professional bodies decided on June 14, after studying the data and consulting with the relevant ministries, not to touch the budgets of the five-year plan. But only two weeks later, at the direction of the Prime Minister, the government began pushing to cut the funds, without presenting new data justifying the change in position. The association stressed that the targeted funds are allocated for existing projects in the areas of economic and social development, and are not an unused surplus, and that harming them will deepen gaps and discrimination against the Arab community. Regarding the involvement of the Shin Bet in combating civilian crime, the association confirmed that this task does not fall within its legal authority, and warned against subjecting Arab citizens to a secret security agency, thereby entrenching two separate systems of law enforcement: one for Jews and another for Arabs.