Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Tuesday evening wrote to the head of the ministry's budget department, Yoav Gardos, that the latter should resign if he was not able to comply with the minister's policies.
The letter came as a response to a letter from Gardos earlier on Tuesday, reportedly urging Smotrich not to overspend and breach the 2024 budget while making necessary adaptations to the upcoming 2025 budget. In response to a Jerusalem Post request to receive Gardos's letter, the finance ministry's spokesperson said that they do not publish "internal letters."
Smotrich's response to Gardos reflects the existing tension between the finance minister and one of the most important economic figures in the country, who has pushed Smotrich since the beginning of the war to shut down unnecessary ministries and cut coalition funds in order to finance the war effort.
Smotrich accuses Gardos of 'attempting to sabotage' his policies
The letter was exceptionally critical, as Smotrich accused Gardos of methodically "attempting to sabotage" his policies and directives by "dragging his feet."
"If you do not identify with my economic policy and you think you find it difficult to execute – you are welcome to resign," Smotrich wrote. He added that "as long as you remain in your position you are subordinate to me and you will execute my policy and directives. If you decide to remain in your position, I urge you to cease harming the ministry, you colleagues, and the proper work procedures in the office, treat the substandard organizational culture in your department that includes methodical leaks and briefings against me and against the other department heads, and severely damages the economy, in order to assist me to implement my economic policy during these challenging times."
Smotrich added that "you and your people are far from understanding the war and economic challenges in this period, just like you did not understand it during COVID-19 and opposed the government's moves at the time. Your viewpoint is astonishingly narrow, and lacks in-depth national and economic understanding that is necessary at this time."
The exchange of letters came after criticism has been growing over the fact that Smotrich has yet to bring the 2025 budget to the government for approval, a step that usually occurs by this time of year when preparing a budget for the ensuing year. It also came after Fitch Ratings last week lowered Israel's credit rating from A+ to A with a negative outlook, joining Moody's and S&P. Smotrich shrugged off the move, arguing that the economy will rebound at war's end, but opposition members argued that the credit rating drop could have been avoided in the first place.