A minister from Israel is criticized for voting to ‘fund a private army of thugs’

 

The far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir will be in charge of the National Guard, the Israeli government said Wednesday.

To support Ben-National Gvir's Guard, the cabinet decided to decrease the budgets of all ministries by 1.5%. This would give Ben-Gvir almost 1 billion shekels ($278 million). 

According to the Hebrew media, a number of cabinet ministers opposed the budget cuts of 1.5%.

Ben-Gvir was charged of "wanting everything here and now at the expense of other ministries," according to intelligence minister Gila Gamliel.

While Yair Lapid, a former prime minister, criticized ministers for voting to "fund a private army of thugs" and called Netanyahu's government's priorities "ridiculous and terrible,"

Netanyahu's cabinet, he claimed, "has been in place for three months, and the only things that interest it are trampling on democracy and furthering the crazy desires of delusional people."

According to Ynet News, Finance Ministry officials criticized Ben-Gvir for requesting the money immediately, citing comments made about the potential to find alternate funding options within a few months to prevent the drastic cuts.