Israeli Minister of Environment Gideon Ezra said Arab towns in the
northern Israel should not receive aid intended for educational plan
like Jewish towns, Israeli newspaper Haarets reported in its online
edition.
"We have to make a distinction and ensure that the Arab communities in the north do not get all the money for the educational plan," Ezra said Sunday.
Ezra argued that Arab towns and villages “carried on as normal” during the war and therefore there is no need to hand out any money to them.
On the other hand, Minister of Education Yuli Tamir said during a special cabinet meeting to present the educational plan, slammed Ezra’s comments.
"I can't believe that a minister in Israel would dare say such a thing regarding Israeli citizens," Tamir said.
At the meeting, Tamir presented the plan for rehabilitating the education system in the north, which includes a longer school day and expanding the meal plan. Some 440,000 students in the north would enjoy the benefits of the plan.
The plan was set to include all Israeli schools and was presented before the war on Lebaon, however, the plan which costs NIS 600 million (almost $1.3 million USD) is restricted to the north after the war.
Thousands of the Palestinian citizens of Israel fled their hometowns during the war. Most of them went to Bethlehem area, Jericho and Ramallah but all of them are back now.
