‘Israeli’ Foreign Ministry Paralyzed After Treasury Freezes Budget - Haaretz

By Staff, Agencies

On the orders of the Zionist Finance Ministry’s comptroller general, the ‘Israeli’ Foreign Ministry budget activity has been frozen and Zionist diplomats abroad have been ordered to put any plans for new spending on hold due to a major budget deficit.

A diplomatic cable obtained by Haaretz on Sunday revealed that ‘Israeli’ diplomatic missions around the world were instructed to immediately refrain from any work-related travel as well as “initiatives and steps related to new contractual relationships.”

Zionist missions abroad have also been told to put a hold on fees paid to outside consultants, overtime pay and entertainment expenses.

Reacting to the exceptional spending limits, senior ministry officials said it was coming at a particularly sensitive period in which the Zionist entity was facing diplomatic and strategic challenges, including most notably threats from Iran and its allies and just prior to the United Nations General Assembly meetings in New York later this month.

Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz is working to find a solution to the problem, the statement added.

About two months earlier, the heads of ‘Israeli’ diplomatic missions abroad complained about a grim situation that they said they were facing due to about $100 million in cuts in the Foreign Ministry budget. There is no funding for a train ticket or even a cup of coffee for working meetings, they wrote in internal cables sent to senior ministry officials in occupied al-Quds.

At the same time, the diplomatic staff declared a labor dispute over what they said were plans to hurt their employment conditions.