For instance, all employee recruitment was handled exclusively by him – including the placement and salary of the same. Department heads argued that they were unaware of what was going on “the whole issue of employee absorption, role and tasks was not coordinated with them.” The head of the education department claimed he didn’t even know many of the people who “were ostensibly working in his department,” and that their acceptance was not supported by him.
And what happens when you hire dozens of unnecessary workers without regard to budget constraints? That’s right, growing deficits.
The regional council head was apparently aware of these deficits, so he came up with an idea. In 2008, the Education Ministry transferred 10.5 million NIS to the council as part of the funding of educational services there. By law, the council is supposed to add another 25 percent, and the overall sum – 13 million NIS – is supposed to constitute the local education budget. So what do you do if you don’t have the money? Very simple – you create “spares” and use them for other things. According to the official council budget, Bustan al-Marj transferred only 9.9 million NIS to the education department and kept 1.5 million NIS. After all, you gotta pay your cronies, right?
The council head found other creative ways to skim off the budget. For instance, as part of a suit by a contracting firm, a lien was placed on council assets to the tune of one million NIS, for non-payment for services and other matters. But rather than fight it in court, the council simply didn’t bother: the council legal counselor never saw the suit, was not made privy to the council’s arguments in its defense, and worst of all – was not involved in the settlement that was eventually signed. Who was involved? Why, the council head of course, who signed the settlement promising to pay the whole sum owed, including 65,000 Vat for professional services, even though no court proceedings ever took place.
A detailed investigation showed even more shenanigans, as well as demonstrating why pouring in more and more government money won’t solve anything. For instance, the council head took a loan on the grey market from a “money changer named Akram Daniel” for 100,000 NIS at a monthly rate of 7% interest, 88% annually. The investigators state that the loan, which was repaid within a month, was taken at a time when the council’s finances were OK, so “the motives for taking the loan are unclear.”
We could bring many more such cases, such as Arraba in the Galilee, which tended to grant tax breaks for anyone who was fined for building violations, but the overall picture is clear.
Crime Actually Pays
The crime stats for the Arab sector speak volumes. In a document published by the Knesset Research and Information Center in the wake of the riots during the kidnapping of last June, some figures on Israeli Arab crime were collected. So let’s let the facts speak for themselves: 49% of criminal prisoners in Israel are Israeli Arabs, who are only 20% of the overall population. And no, they’re not there for securities fraud or violating trade regulations: Israeli Arabs are responsible for 46% of cases involving murder, 31% of cases involving attempted murder, and 52% of cases involving serious assault.
But these numbers only refer to crimes and attacks actually carried out. To understand the full danger, one can look at the numbers for illegal possession of firearms: between 2006-2013, 11,000 cases were opened in the Arab sector for these crimes – and those are just the cases the police know about. According to estimates, and as ‘Mida’ published in its own investigation, there are thousands of weapons and ammunition stocks in the northern villages and elsewhere, which are probably not meant just for shooting at weddings.