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13 Teves 5764 - January 7, 2004 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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NEWS
Politica: Media Mum on Shinui Blackmail
by E. Rauchberger

Shinui recently made off with NIS 200 million for matters close to the hearts of the party and its voters--culture, universities, students, etc.--but it did not make headlines. An outcry should be raised over this twin scandal: wringing the State coffers dry and virtual silence on the part of the Israeli media, which has demonstrated once again where its loyalties lie.

The Finance Minister announced one-and-a-half weeks ago that he was withdrawing the budget from the Finance Committee due to the excessive demands of the coalition parties, which came to over one billion shekels. Had the coalition parties been called Shas or United Torah Jewry, Netanyahu's move would have led to screaming front-page headlines.

At the beginning of last week Shinui and the Finance Ministry held such fierce negotiations that Sharon had to step into the picture. Shinui clung stubbornly to its demands.

The daily newspapers did not report the negotiations at all. Not a single story. The media overlooked the fact that by delaying the budget approval process Shinui was causing the State to enter the 2004 fiscal year without an approved budget, along with the fact it was dipping its hands into the public coffers and draining hundreds of millions of shekels at the expense of the weaker sectors of society, at a time when everything is under pressure.

Less than two months ago the Knesset Finance Committee approved the transfer of NIS 22 million for the yeshivas, money the yeshivas gave back to the Finance Ministry due to overpayments, and the Finance Ministry agreed to add the sum to the general yeshiva budget. Even though it was not really new money, the papers came out with large headlines saying the yeshivas were receiving tens of millions of shekels at a time of budget cuts.

 

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