Finance Committee Chairman MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni took Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz to task for the recent cooperation between the ministry's General Accounting Department and the Education's Ministry Institutions Department, in conducing denigrating inspections at Torah institutions.
"Several inspectors came to Mir Yeshiva and halted the studies at the yeshiva, requiring thousands of students to stand in line with for hours with an ID card in hand," MK Rabbi Gafni wrote In his letter to the Finance Minister. "At Yeshivas Beis Shmaya two inspectors arrived in the middle of the shiur kloli and tried to stop the shiur, which was held in a packed hall. Accounts of these degrading incidents are piled up on my desk in endless numbers, pointing to a very clear trend.
"I am in favor of inspections," Rabbi Gafni continued, "and those who submit untruthful reports not only transgress the law, but they also steal money from lomdei Torah and they should be required to return funding that they are not entitled to. However, the inspection must be conducted in a respectful and equitable manner, like in all bodies funded from State funds."
Rabbi Gafni notes in the letter that at Finance Committee meetings he has asked for details on the inspection held at various other institutions funded by the state, including institutions of higher learning, the Zionist Leadership Program at the Prime Minister's Office, funding for local news broadcasting at the Communications Ministry, the centers at the Prime Minister's Office to preserve the memories of Menachem Begin and Yitzchak Rabin, support funding for the Culture Administration, renovations at cultural institutions and entertainment funds at the Ministry of Culture and various organizations funded by the Education Ministry that are not Torah institutions and chareidi culture, and it appears inspections are not held at any of these places.
"At non-yeshiva institutions of higher learning there is no governmental inspection whatsoever," Rabbi Gafni writes. "The funding reviews and the financial reports are checked by an auditor but he does not conduct field inspections."
Rabbi Gafni said that according to a newspaper article published a few days ago, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art was funded for seven years even though it did not meet the criteria of the funding program. The ministry was unaware of this since they never set foot at the museum during those seven years."
