Adalah on behalf of the National Committee of Arab Mayors: Israeli Government Illegally Withholding Hundreds of Millions of Shekels Meant for Arab Municipalities
In October 2021, the previous Israeli Government passed Resolution No. 550, which aimed to “reduce gaps between Arab society and the general population across various sectors”, including the economic development at the local level. The five year resolution stipulated that more than NIS 550 million shall be allocated for the purpose of economic development and strengthening human capital of Arab local authorities throughout the years of the resolution (2022-2026).
Although four years have passed since the resolution's adoption, most of the allocated development budgets for localities have not been transferred. While this plan was one of the government’s most comprehensive for the development of the Arab community to date, only NIS 22 million shekels (approximately USD $6.1 million) has actually been transferred. This failure joins a clear pattern of deliberate delay and an effort to bypass the resolution.
Adalah - The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel on behalf of the National Committee of the Arab Mayors sent an urgent letter to the then Interior Minister Moshe Arbel and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. The letter demands the immediate transfer of the full development budgets according to Government Resolution No. 550, the aim of which was to reduce the deep structural and social disparities between Arab and Jewish Israeli local authorities via investing in fields such as employment and infrastructure.
Read a synopsis of the letter in English
The Ministry of Interior pledged in official meetings with representatives of Arab local authorities that the budgets would be transferred within “a few weeks”, but they have yet to fulfill this promise. Moreover, the Ministry intentionally excluded Arab towns from funding programs with similar goals namely the “Economic Takeoff Plan”, by not allowing Arab towns to apply for funding, using resolution no. 550 as a grounds for exclusion, but simultaneously withheld the transfer of the promised funds to Arab towns.
Adalah argued in the letter that the delay in implementing these provisions constitutes a serious breach of administrative law and violates the government’s duty to uphold and execute its official decisions. This failure worsens the already dire financial conditions of Arab local authorities which suffer from longstanding infrastructure gaps, systematic discrimination in state budgets, and lack of services. Instead of narrowing the disparities, the delay deepens the economic gap between Arab and Israeli Jewish local authorities, which directly contradicts the stated goals of Resolution 550.
Adalah demanded that the government cease its discriminatory practices and failure to uphold its commitments, and immediately transfer the full remaining budgets allocated under the multi-year plan, especially given that less than a year and a half remains to implement the resolution.
This letter follows repeated efforts and demands by the National Committee of Arab Mayors to obtain these funds.
