Ed. Ministry under fire for alleged cronyism in distributing funds

More than NIS 100 million a year is distributed by the Education Ministry based on tailored criteria, according to a paper written by attorney Amnon de Hartuch, head of special funding at the Justice Ministry. The paper, a copy of which reached TheMarker was prepared as a professional opinion for Yaron Zelekha the accountant general at the Finance Ministry.

According to the paper, in recent years, five institutions have received "questionably legal" state funding, while the funding to two others contained irregularities. An examination of the State Budget Book reveals that in the past decade, these institutions have received some NIS 100 million annually.

"The sum stipulated in the budget clause for the category of public institution," states the Budget Fundamentals Law, "will be divided among the public institutions in that category, based on equality tests to be determined by the budget director in consultation with the attorney general."

De Hartuch examined the amendments and found they were tailored for specific institutions. He believes the minimum conditions set in the regulations are "defective due to improbability," as they allow for just one institution to be eligible for the entire funding allocation for the category, instead of the budget being distributed among several institutions. De Hartuch notes that such criteria would not stand the test if challenged in the High Court of Justice, and recommends discontinuing such budgeting in 2007.

When deputy accountants general Avi Gabay, Sigi Sayag and Eitan Kashmon did a background check into the institutions receiving the tailored funding, they found that former senior officials of the Education Ministry were either employed by or volunteered at these institutions, some while they were working for the ministry and others after leaving their positions there.

The following are a number of examples of the tailored criteria:

b Youth hostels: The criteria contain a requirement for nine hostels, at least three of which must be in the Galilee or the Negev, with a total of at least 1,000 beds and 250 rooms, plus connections to hostels worldwide. Only one Israeli entity meets these two criteria - the Israel Youth Hostel Association.

The association, founded in 1937, is considered to be under the sponsorship of the Social and Youth Administration at the Education Ministry. In addition to lodging services, the association has training and in-service centers for teachers and principals and organizes tour groups. The association, which is a completely private enterprise, received NIS 27 million under the state budget amendment, even though there are other, similar organizations operating in this category, such as the field schools of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel.

b Culture, festivals, competitions, filmmaking and employment for immigrant artists: An amendment inserted into the regulations requires a countrywide organizational setup and the running of at least seven cultural activities a day. Only one Israeli body meets these criteria - Omanut La'am, established in the 1950s to bring cultural activities to immigrant transit camps when there were no other organizations involved in that field. Omanut La'am employs former senior officials from the Education Ministry's Culture Administration, which is responsible, among other things, for the association's budget. In 2005, Omanut La'am received about NIS 14 million.

b Education campuses and environmental studies: Funding in this category will be given only to education campuses with science and environmental studies, and only Sde Boker College meets the criteria, as one of them, for some reason, is that the campus maintain land covering 1,500 dunams (375 acres), such that no other school qualifies. In 2005, the college received NIS 11 million.

b Sports research and promotion: The amendment aims to provide for support for ongoing activities of sports centers. No specific area of sports is defined. Rather, the institute must specialize in providing services for all types of sports. A closer look reveals that there are no such institutions in Israel, except the Wingate Institute for Physical Education and Sports, and even it does not specialize in a very wide variety of sports. In addition, it charges a fee to other organizations that use its facilities.

Wingate's board of directors is headed by Shuki Dekel, head of the Sports Administration at the Education Ministry. Thus, Wingate received some NIS 10 million from the state budget in 2005.

b Educational frameworks for children: The amendment aims to allocate support to institutions that provide "family" frameworks to children who cannot live with their families. Among the criteria is a countrywide organizational setup that has been in operation for at least five years and the inclusion of an Education Ministry representative on the organization's board.

Only one organization meets these criteria - Hamifal Educational Children's Homes. Hamifal maintains children's homes and family oriented housing facilities for some 900 children at risk, aged 5-18. Hamifal employs several former ministry workers, and the chairman is former ministry director general Eliezer Shmueli, who also chairs the Association for the Promotion of Education, which operates several dormitory schools. In 2005, the association received NIS 42 million.

The Education Ministry's legal advisor, Dorit Morag, said the Justice Ministry's queries on this matter would be studied, and answers would be submitted directly to it.