Yesh Atid MK Vladimir Beliak demanded in a letter to State Comptroller Matanyahu Engelman and Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara on Sunday to examine whether the Religious Zionist Party violated party funding laws after launching a campaign that included a directive to praise the party leader, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
The allegations, first reported by KAN News on Friday evening, referred to a campaign by the party to outline benefits to reservists that passed in recent government decisions, including housing and land purchasing discounts, tax benefits, a digital wallet for leisure activities, preferential bureaucratic treatment, and more.
According to the report, the party hired a public relations firm, which offered to pay social media influencers thousands of shekels in order to detail the benefits. However, the campaign was deemed as being “on behalf” of Smotrich, and instructions included “explicitly thanking” the finance minister for his “personal commitment to reservists.”
“It should be stressed that this is a personal initiative that the minister [Smotrich] has led from start to finish, with attentiveness” to the reservists and “caring for their real needs,” the instructions to the influencers read, according to the report.
RZP confirms that it launched pro-Smotrich campaign
The Religious Zionist Party confirmed that it had launched the campaign. In its response to the KAN report, the party said, "We are certainly publicizing the rights of reservists under the program led by Finance Minister Smotrich. This is an awareness campaign detailing all the benefits to which reservists are entitled—financial benefits, land rights, a digital wallet, and more. The campaign will be published online and in newspapers. Additionally, the campaign acknowledges and honors the families of reservists, as we believe that recognizing the minority that serves in the reserves is an important pillar of Israeli society."
"The Religious Zionist Party is proud of the Finance Minister for leading an 18-billion-shekel program for reservists and placing them at the top of the national priorities. We would appreciate it if, during your broadcast this evening, you could highlight the benefits and rights to which reservists are entitled, as it would greatly assist in ensuring they receive their benefits and would serve reservists and their families well," the party said.
Political parties in the Knesset receive state funding that is earmarked for specific purposes, such as maintaining a in his letter to the State Comptroller on Sunday, Beliak argued that the use of public party funds to credit a specific politician was unlawful.
“Public trust in government depends to a large degree on maintaining the limits of right and wrong in using public funds,” Beliak wrote. “We will not enable a situation where state funds are invested in the personal promotion of one person. As a result, I would request an examination whether these acts, which were funded by the ‘Religious Zionist’ party, met the conditions set in law and in regulations that apply to party funding.”