'Dirty deal' finances settlements, instead of Israel's south
In an interview with Al-Monitor, Knesset member Stav Shafir blames coalition members in the concocting of a ''dirty deal'' where money will go to settlements instead of the southern localities.
On the morning of Aug. 13, Knesset member Stav Shaffir (Labor) appeared at a meeting of the Knesset’s Finance Committee with one clear goal in mind: She wanted to force the committee’s chairman, Knesset member Nissan Slomiansky, to disclose ''the deal'' she contends was made between Slomiansky’s HaBayit HaYehudi party and the Yesh Atid party. Shaffir believes that in this deal, Finance Minister Yair Lapid, who is also the chairman of Yesh Atid, agreed to transfer tens of millions of shekels to West Bank settlements and religious councils. In exchange, Shaffir asserts, Slomiansky agreed to help get the “Zero VAT” bill passed by the committee. The law, which would reduce the VAT tax to zero on the purchase of new apartments, is Lapid’s flagship legislation.
Just one day earlier, Shaffir, who at 29 is the youngest member of Knesset, got into a serious scuffle with Slomiansky, a veteran politician from the religious right. From the sidelines, it looked like a clash between Israel’s new politics and the old politics. Having earned a reputation as an icon of the social protest movement of 2011, Shaffir works night and day to uncover all sorts of shady budget dealings. Slomiansky on the other side, is an alumnus of the political old school, where it is customary to transfer money from one clause in the budget to the other, far from the prying eyes of the public.
On Aug. 12, Slomiansky convened the committee to approve the transfer of 3.8 billion shekels (about $1 billion) to the country’s defense budget following Operation Protective Edge. The members of the committee were told that to achieve this, 125 million shekels (some $36 million) would be cut from the public transportation budget. Shaffir refused to accept this and demanded explanations. She wanted to know why there was no representative from the Transportation Ministry at the meeting to answer any questions the committee might have. This led to an argument between her and Slomiansky, who finally ordered the Knesset’s ushers to remove her from the chamber. They argued again the following day. Shaffir accused Slomiansky of making a “dirty deal.” He told her that she was lying.
