Heads of the Gaza border communities' municipal councils blocked the entrance to the Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday, protesting the government's planned reduction of funding meant for rebuilding the communities after the October 7 massacre.
“It is inconceivable that instead of supporting and strengthening the Gaza border communities, they [the government] are leaving them behind,” the council heads said. “We will not allow it to happen! Since October 7, they've continued to abandon us.”
"The funds are essential to construction, infrastructure, medical, recreational, and communal resilience," they added. "We do not have the privilege of giving them up.”
Earlier on Thursday, Gaza border communities' municipal leaders put up a protest tent outside the Finance Ministry's offices in Jerusalem, claiming that the government intends to cut roughly twenty percent of the Tekuma Directorate’s budget, totaling about NIS 300 million, in addition to previous reductions.
The Tekuma Directorate was established following the October 7 massacre with a mission to rehabilitate and promote the growth of the region and its inhabitants.
Cutting funding 'harms ability' to live in Gaza border communities
Officials on the Gaza border communities councils warned that “such a move will directly harm the ability to rehabilitate and develop the region after the events of October 7 and reflects severe damage to public trust.”
Sderot Mayor Alon Davidi, Head of the Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council Uri Epstein, Head of the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council Itamar Revivo, Head of the Eshkol Regional Council Michal Uziyahu, and Head of the Sdot Negev Regional Council Tamir Idan emphasized that “Tekuma's budget is not that of a government ministry, and its treatment requires an exception."
"The budgets were promised and legislated by law, and cutting them means harming the ability to live here.”