Legislation backed by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich granting expanded tax benefits to dozens of West Bank settlements is expected to come up for final votes in the Knesset as early as Monday, even as the government delayed a long-promised NIS 5 billion ($1.78 billion) aid package to rehabilitate northern communities that remain under near-daily bombardment from Hezbollah.

The decision to release the aid money was initially supposed to be made on Sunday, but was pushed off until Tuesday, according to Hebrew media reports, due to Smotrich’s insistence that legislation by Religious Zionism MK Zvi Sukkot to grant additional tax benefits to dozens of West Bank settlements and a handful of northern communities under a new “security threat” criterion, also be advanced.

The finance minister has reportedly been delaying the release of the approved funds until his party’s legislation, set to be voted on in the Knesset this week, is passed. The move has led opposition lawmakers to accuse Smotrich of prioritizing West Bank settlements and ultra-Orthodox communities over the needs of the war-battered north.

Northern leaders have repeatedly protested that the critical emergency aid remains frozen within the Finance Ministry — a situation worsened by subsequent budget cuts that stripped millions from the region’s active recovery funds — and their communities have accused the government of abandoning the devastated region.

The issue has also provoked division within the coalition itself as National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir berated both Smotrich and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday for delaying the long-promised aid for northern communities, in an unusual public criticism of the prime minister by a senior coalition minister.

“While residents of the north are facing existential threats, the prime minister and finance minister have once again postponed a decision regarding the north,” said Ben Gvir, calling it “unacceptable” that essential aid continues to be delayed due to “political foot-dragging.”

“The responsibility for delaying the plan lies at........

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