Israel Faces Potential NIS 1 Billion Budget Cut Threatening Arab Community Development

Raghida Jraisi, managing director of the Sikkuy - Auphwad association, has warned of ongoing attempts to reduce budgets allocated for the development of the Arab community in Israel. A new proposed cut, amounting to approximately one billion shekels, targets future budgets for the years 2027 to 2029, as part of a government effort to reallocate funds for military needs. Jraisi stated on Radio al-Shams that the Arab community has faced repeated attempts to undermine its budgets for years, with efforts to prevent one cut often followed by a new attempt. She clarified that this current cut differs from previous ones, which targeted existing five-year plan budgets, by focusing on future allocations not yet finalized. The Ministry of Finance is reportedly pre-distributing general budgets for upcoming years, including allocations for the Arab community and other sectors.

Jraisi emphasized that these five-year plan budgets are not additional funds but are essential mechanisms for government investment in the Arab community. She cautioned that reducing them could negatively impact various fields, including education, social welfare, planning, construction, transportation infrastructure, and efforts to combat crime and violence. While the exact sectors to be directly affected remain unclear due to the undecided nature of future budget distributions, the broad scope of past plans suggests a wide-ranging potential impact. Concerns also extend to the possibility of additional cuts disproportionately affecting the Arab community's allocations compared to the overall state budget, potentially hindering development programs in Arab towns.

Jraisi linked these developments to a broader trend of policies impacting the Arab community, citing the freezing of plans to expand Arab towns and ongoing issues related to land, housing, and settlement in the Galilee. She called for increased public pressure before and after the upcoming elections, believing that popular and political action could influence the priorities of the next government and ensure continued investment in the Arab community. The focus, she stated, is now on securing clear future allocations rather than just the budget size, preventing them from being subject to repeated cuts. The Association for Civil Rights is pursuing legal avenues, raising arguments in court about the exploitation of the election period and the current government's pre-emptive setting of priorities and budget distribution before its term ends.

While theoretically possible to address the impact of cuts through alternative state funding or political agreements, Jraisi expressed confidence that relevant associations, particularly the Association for Civil Rights, will take appropriate legal measures. She concluded that the current struggle is about the future of investment in the Arab community, and protecting budgets requires continuous action amid fears that successive cuts could undermine development programs in the coming years.