Petition to the High Court of Occupation to Prevent the Transfer of Wadi Ara Budgets to Projects Serving Jewish Towns

SadaNews - This morning, Monday, the Association for Civil Rights submitted a petition to the High Court of Occupation against the Ministry of Transportation and the "Netivei Israel" company, protesting the transfer of hundreds of millions of shekels allocated for the development of infrastructure and transportation on Road 65 in Wadi Ara to projects located outside the area that primarily serve Jewish towns.

The petition is based on data revealed by the "Sikuy - Afaq" Association under the Freedom of Information Act, indicating that the "Netivei Israel" company received a budget of 507 million shekels as part of the five-year plan to develop the Arab community (government decision 550), allocated for improving the infrastructure along Road 65 in Wadi Ara.

According to the data, by January 2026, approximately 200 million shekels of the budget had been spent, yet only 6.5% of the funds were invested in the section crossing Wadi Ara, while the majority was allocated to other projects, including the Hadera Junction project, which serves neighboring Jewish towns.

The petitioners emphasized that this behavior contradicts the objectives of the government's plan aimed at reducing the gaps between the Arab and Jewish communities, and leads to the diversion of funds allocated to address the chronic deficit in infrastructure in the Arab community to projects that were not originally designated.

The petition pointed out that Road 65 in Wadi Ara, used by more than 120,000 citizens daily, is one of the most dangerous traffic segments in the country, given the chronic congestion and rising number of accidents, making its development an urgent necessity.

The Association for Civil Rights requested the High Court to issue a precautionary order preventing the continued use of the budgets allocated for Wadi Ara on other projects until the petition is decided, asserting that the funds approved by the government for the development of the area should be invested in it according to the objectives for which they were earmarked.