On Monday (Sept. 26), Professor Manuel Trachtenberg submitted his committee’s report addressing the need for social-economic reforms in Israel to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

Upon receiving the comprehensive report, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu stated:

“The goal that we set for ourselves was to lower the cost of living.  We understood that the reality in which Israelis pay too much for education and social services must change.  I asked the committee members to submit recommendations which would make life easier for Israeli citizens and lower the cost of living in the country.

“I must admit that Prof. Trachtenberg and the committee members did the unbelievable – in a short time.  They succeeded in studying the issue in depth, in bringing the public into the committee’s discussions, and in formulating recommendations to correct the distortions in the economy.

“Implementing the Trachtenberg committee’s conclusions, along with the recommendations of the committee on cartelization, will – in the end – lead to Israelis being able to purchase, and do, more with their money.

“The conclusions of the Trachtenberg committee are indeed good news for education, for social welfare and for changing the Israel’s economic priorities vis-à-vis childcare, distortions in taxation, competition, lowering import duties, lowering housing costs, etc.

“The conclusions of the Trachtenberg committee which have been submitted to me, along with the conclusions of the committee on cartelization, are an important milestone for the Israeli economy and society.

“For decades no such comprehensive reform has been enacted in the Israeli economy and here, we are talking about two gigantic reforms within a week.

“The security of Israeli citizens heads my Government’s list of priorities; the security budget is, and remains, the largest budget among the various ministries.

“However, increasing efficiency and transparency in the security establishment are two important components that will facilitate improving Israelis’ social welfare.

I would like to thank Prof. Manuel Trachtenberg and the members of his committee.”

Regarding the critical shortage of housing in Israel, the report calls for approving 196,000 new housing units nationwide within the next five years, with 20% of the homes being earmarked as ‘affordable housing’. This is in response to the growing trend of luxury housing which appears to be targeting the wealthy and buyers and investors from abroad, leaving Israelis without a hope of finding affordable housing. The report also calls to lower costs of basic items, such as bread and eggs, as well as providing free education in the nation’s schools from age three [as is the case in the chareidi sector].

Turning to the chareidi tzibur, the report calls to encourage chareidim to become more involved in national service and to seek professional training, to learn a skill to alleviate the growing poverty in that sector as well as encouraging more chareidim to serve in the IDF. The committee believes towards accomplishing this goal, incentives would be advisable.

Towards achieving this goal, the committee also addresses standardized education and periodical achievement tests to ensure chareidi pupils are learning basic skills, those skills necessary to compete in the workplace.

In the area of transportation, Trachtenberg is calling for a 50% fare reduction for students.

The prime minister hailed the report, but the leaders of the summer’s protests are somewhat less than enthusiastic, with protest leader Daphne Leef telling the media that she and her colleagues were expecting widespread reforms, insisting the report fall short of their expectations.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)