Police and Shabas announced salary increases without the consent of the Ministry of Finance

Inspector General of Police Dani Levy and Director of the Prison Service Kobi Yaakobi announced additional payments for a significant portion of the staff of both agencies for the period from October 2023 to January 2024.

The cost of the “military allowance” is 240 million shekels. However, the increase has not been agreed upon with the Ministry of Finance. The Department of Homeland Security’s legal office justifies the increase in terms of a 1979 government decision that mandated that police and Shin Bet officers be given the same benefits and allowances as regular military personnel. Since the beginning of the war, the IDF has also unilaterally increased the risk category of service for many career military personnel, thereby increasing their salaries.

The Ministry of Finance demands that the decision be declared illegal and canceled. At the same time, the Ministry of Finance points to a government decision from 2012, according to which it is impossible to compare the risk levels of activity between the army and the police due to differences in the nature of the activity.

It should be noted that in recent days the conflict between the Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir and the Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich has been growing. Ben-Gvir is demanding an increase in his ministry’s budget by 20 billion shekels.