The government postponed the decision on Sunday to approve a multi-year plan that would focus on the rehabilitation of northern border communities, amid ongoing escalating strikes from Hezbollah targeting civilians in the North.
The delay also comes as local northern authority heads have called for urgent government aid and IDF action.
The plan that was on the government meeting’s schedule before being removed called for rehabilitation and growth of communities located within the nine kilometer range of the border with Lebanon.
It also called for a plan to provide immediate protective measures to communities located within that range. Both were scheduled to be brought forward by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s office.
'More professional work is needed on the matter'
“It simply wasn’t ready. It was brought forward without proper coordination,” the Finance Ministry told The Jerusalem Post when asked about the postponement in approving the plans.
“More professional work is needed on the matter, and that work will be completed in the near future,” the ministry added.
A separate government meeting to discuss the situation in the North is reportedly scheduled for Tuesday.
All school frameworks in the area were canceled on Sunday, due to the escalation in strikes as well.
Kiryat Shmona Mayor Avichai Stern sent a direct message to US President Donald Trump on Sunday, urging him to allow Israel to use its “basic right” to protect the country.
He said it was clear that Trump was the only one making decisions for the country – and that was why he was sending the plea to him.
Stern added that since the start of the ceasefire, there have been over 500 sirens from attacks directed at civilians and families in the North.
Following the postponement of the approval of the benefits for the North, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir sharply condemned the delay, calling it “a serious mistake.”
Additionally, Ben-Gvir criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Smotrich, saying that “at a time when residents of northern Israel are facing existential threats, the prime minister and the finance minister are once again delaying a decision on the North.”
“It is unacceptable that this essential assistance continues to be held up because of political foot-dragging,” Ben-Gvir said.
“Even if there is a desire to add further measures, an initial plan can be approved now and expanded later,” he added.
Internal grades from schools will replace external matriculation grade
Education Minister Yoav Kisch announced later on Sunday that, in light of the security situation in the North, he had decided not to hold matriculation exams this week in the areas under Home Front Command restrictions. He explained that the internal grades given by schools would replace students’ external matriculation grades.
“Decisions regarding the rest of the exam period will be made on a weekly basis,” Kisch added.
Meanwhile, opposition party leaders sharply criticized the government for failing to take sufficient military action and for neglecting northern border communities.
Yashar! party leader and former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot toured communities on the northern border on Sunday.
“If the government does not allow the IDF full freedom of action in Lebanon, it will be a tragedy for generations,” Eisenkot said.
“The use of force must lead to the demilitarization of southern Lebanon, the disarmament of Hezbollah, and long-term security for northern residents,” he added.
Eisenkot said that alongside the required military effort, the government must immediately approve a decision to compensate and strengthen the communities of northern Israel.
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett, another leading rival candidate in the upcoming elections, also visited the North and stated on Sunday that what civilians in the area had experienced over the past 1,000 days is “something unprecedented since the founding of the State of Israel.”
“Since October 7, an entire region of Israel has been emptied of its residents for many months. They packed up quickly and moved with their families away from their homes, relying on temporary solutions,” he noted.
“Then a ceasefire was declared,” he said. “But the fire has not stopped. The country seems to have returned to normal, but here the war is still ongoing.”
“Where is the government? What is it busy with right now instead of stopping everything and coming up here to the North?” Bennett questioned.
He vowed that better days were coming for the North after the elections, which are currently scheduled to take place no later than October 27.
Communities along the northern border were already severely affected following the October 7 massacre and throughout the ensuing Israel-Hamas War.
During that period, hundreds of thousands of residents were forced to leave their homes as the area came under sustained rocket fire. The area had not recovered from that earlier damage when Operation Roaring Lion began in February.