West Bank and Gaza Strip settlements received at least twice as much money in Interior Ministry financial aid as did other Jewish communities in 2002 and 2003 - and three times as much as Israeli Arab communities, according to a Tel Aviv University study released Tuesday.

The report, which was published by public policy professor Dr. Dan Ben-David and economics professor Dr. Yuval Erez, studied the "balancing grants" the Interior Ministry gives local councils that have trouble balancing their budgets.

The study found that the financial imbalance in favor of the settlements amounted to a quarter of a billion shekels in each of the two years studied.

The Gaza Coast Regional Council, which received a balancing grant of an average NIS 3,598 per resident in 2003, was among the top financial aid recipients. Other settlements heading the list include Kiryat Arba (NIS 3,273) and Beit El (NIS 2,455), both in the West Bank.

By contrast, Netivot and Dimona - low-income towns in the Negev - in 2003 received a per-person average of NIS 1,323 and NIS 1,112, respectively.

There was also disparity within the same region, the study found: Jewish communities in the south of the country received balancing grants that were between 35 percent and 46 percent larger than those received by their Arab neighbors.

The inequality persists also when towns on opposite sides of the Green Line are ranked on the same socio-economic level.

The Hebron Hills regional council in the West Bank received a balancing grant of an average NIS 4,254 per resident in 2003. But Beit Shemesh, which is located between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and is classified as being in the same socio-economic class as the Hebron Hills, received an average NIS 293 per resident the same year - a gap of 1,350 percent.

Balancing grants were cut last year, which local authorities in crisis say significantly contributed to their inability to pay the salaries of municipal workers.