http://www3.haaretz.co.il/eng/scripts/article.asp?id=37381&mador=1&datee=1/6/99
Ha'aretz, January 6, 1999
No inheritance windfalls for non-Jews
Religious Ministry policy uses windfall estate funds to pay off
small shuls
By Shahar Ilan, Ha'aretz Religious Affairs
Correspondent
Out of a total of NIS 6.5 million made available
to the Religious Affairs Ministry from unclaimed
estates and legacies that reverted to the public
domain, not one shekel was allocated to non-Jewish
communities. And although it has the option of
creating a few large and meaningful allocations to
solve various outstanding problems, the ministry
instead divides the funds into 274 small
allocations of between NIS 20,000 and 30,000 each.
This method may not solve any national problem,
but it will probably guarantee the recipients'
support for the leaders of the ultra-Orthodox Shas
party and the National Religious Party (NRP), who
control the Religious Affairs Ministry on a
rotating basis.
One of the first moves of the two parties when
they took over the ministry was to reduce the
number of associations that receive funding from
the "Torah culture" budget from many hundreds to a
few dozen. The official reason given was that the
ministry could not deal with so many institutions
and could not exercise proper supervision over the
reliability of the reports they submitted on their
activity.
It now emerges that the ministry is in fact
continuing the old system by other means - the
committee administered by the custodian of
unclaimed estates.
The Religious Affairs Ministry transferred NIS
650,000 in the form of 32 allocations for
institutions that provide Torah culture and Torah
lessons, even though government ministries already
dole out NIS 150 million for the same purpose.
Another NIS 3.2 million went for developing
synagogues and public ritual baths even though the
state already underwrites these institutions to
the tune of nearly NIS 100 million a year.
As a result, the estate funds become gifts that
are distributed in defiance of the regular
criteria.
Another NIS 500,000, sliced up into 25
allocations, went for "returning people to
religion" and for "spiritual absorption" (an idiom
for turning new immigrants into religious Jews).
For example, an organization called "El Ami,"
which is close to the NRP, received NIS 30,000 for
"penitential activity" in Eilat, the resort town
where Orthodox religious groups are working to
counter the unfettered life style. Another group,
named for "the kabbalist Shimon Agass" received
NIS 20,000 to "enhance Jewish consciousness" in
Jerusalem's Nahlaot neighborhood, where many of
the residents are observant Jews.
Perhaps the most outrageous category is the NIS 1
million (42 allocations) for "charity." The only
logical connection between the Religious Affairs
Ministry and welfare payments is the need to
subsidize yeshiva students who do not earn a
living and the desire to make indigent families
religious by means of financial aid.
The title of most bizarre allocation probably
belongs to the "Friends of Har Bracha Fund, for
carpentry and electronic hobby groups for the
children of the [West Bank] settlement."
A spokesman for the Religious Affairs Ministry
said "the ministry recommends every type of
activity we find positive and examines only
whether the associations have submitted proper
documentation." The final decision rests with the
committee appointed by the custodian of unclaimed
estates.
Asked why no allocations had gone to Arab
associations, the spokesman said, "Maybe they did
not submit requests."
(Second in a series.)
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