Culture Minister Miri Regev announced Thursday that she is to double the cultural budget for the Arab sector in Israel for the next five years.

According to a concurrent statement from the ministry, the Arab sector is set to receive an annual budgetary allocation of NIS 20 million (some $5 million), as part of a five-year master plan for the promotion and integration of the Arab community in Israel.

Regev unveiled the budget increase at a meeting at the Federation of Local Authorities attended by dozens of Arab local authority leaders.

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Aside from the annual NIS 20 million allocation, Regev said “significant” additional funds earmarked for the Arab community will be dispersed in local municipalities throughout the country.

As part of her ministry’s “revolution in sports,” Regev also announced a push to promote sports by eliminating bureaucratic barriers for the creation of indoor and outdoor playing fields. The program, named Sahbak (Arabic slang for friend), will benefit less affluent sectors, including Arab communities. She also announced a plan to exempt new cultural and sporting institutions from an existing two-year waiting period before receiving state funds.

During the meeting, the Arab municipality heads spoke of the sector’s financial plight, and voiced their concern that the rising levels of violence within the community are connected to its low economic standing.

“The budget increase intended for the Arab sector will greatly strengthen existing institutions and allow many more men and women to enjoy their services,” Regev told the meeting Thursday. “I have instructed my ministry to strengthen connections with the Arab municipalities in order to promote professional ties between them… I believe that culture and sports are bridges to coexistence, dialogue and peace.”

“The Arab authorities encounter difficulties when trying to access government budgets,” Haim Bibas, the chairman of the Federation of Local Authorities said during the meeting. “That is why we at the Federation of Local Authorities set up a professional team to help the Arab sector utilize all funding to which they are entitled through various ministries.”