Israel could reverse decision to freeze funds for Arab communities

A decision by Israel's controversial finance minister earlier this month sparked anger among Israeli opposition and Arab groups

Politician Ahmad Tibi, second left, attends the funeral for Abed Al Rahman Kashua, the director general of the Municipality in Tira, Israel, who was shot and killed on Monday. AP

Israel’s government could reverse a highly controversial move to freeze funds for Israeli Arab communities, including universities, after a backlash against Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who was behind the decision.

Mr Smotrich, one of the most outspoken members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netayahu’s far right coalition, provoked outrage with the move earlier this month.

It threatened to cut off about $85 million of funding for Arab councils in Israel and occupied East Jerusalem.

Opposition leader of the National Unity party Benny Gantz called the decision “racist” and Mr Netanyahu later promised that he would halt the decision. The National Committee of Arab Local Councils in Israel also accused Mr Smotrich of racism.

Mr Smotrich, despite saying the decision would be reversed, said the development funds were fuelling crime, triggering outrage from Arab mayors and some Arab and Jewish lawmakers.

He said this month that some of the budget funds meant for Arab local councils were a political pay-off by the previous cabinet that could end up in the hands of "criminals and terrorists".

Arab councils held a strike last week in protest and community leaders demonstrated outside government offices.

In a statement on Monday, Mr Smotrich appeared to reverse course and said an oversight mechanism had been created to transfer funds to the Arab communities.

"We are stopping the criminal organisations from taking over the budgets that go to the Arab authorities," Mr Smotrich said.

Arab citizens of Israel, mostly descendants of Palestinians who remained in Israel after the 1948 war surrounding its creation, make up about a fifth of the country's population.

Crime in the Arab sector communities is disproportionately high to their make-up of the overall demographic.

At least 157 Arab citizens in Israel have been murdered since January, more than double the fatalities over the same period last year and the highest toll since 2014.