Finance Minister Yair Lapid has been holding meetings with senior ministry officials as well as experts from the Bank of Israel as he works to obtain an understanding of his new duties and responsibilities, which include an understanding of the nation’s economic realities. Among the senior officials with whom he met was outgoing Governor of the Bank of Israel Prof. Stanley Fischer.
Lapid continues to release statements that in additional to the difficult national overdraft he is very concerned over the low number of chareidim and Arabs in the national workforce. He feels this reality has a significant negative impact on the national economy.
He stated on erev Pesach that he has still not made decisions as to what actions will be ordered as he begins working to reduce the deficit towards putting the nation on the correct economic path.
In comments to Channel 2 News, Lapid added that the challenge of extricating the nation from bleak economic realities is “today’s Yitzias Mitzrayim” as far as he is concerned.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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8 Responses
As reported here on YWN on several occasions, Dr. Fischer has written extensively about the “time bomb” represented by the growing number of chareidi youth in EY who are unemployed, have no job skills and limited academic training to make any contribution to the economy of EY. Hopefully Lapid will focus on this issue as one of his priorities and work with the Chareidi leadership to find ways of providing the critically needed training so these boys and girls can identify and pursue their career ambitions and become useful citizens of EY.
Then he should favor ending conscription to hareidim working “off the books” will be “on the books”, and so hareidim who desire to be be baal ha-battim will not have to stay registered in kollel to avoid serving in the army. He could make the army frum-friendly, but that would alienate the majority of Israelis (e.g just imagine, a requirement that all officers be proficient in Shulan Arukh? — easier to exempt hareidim).
The current reality is that the hareidim contribute a great deal to the Israeli economy, but much of it is disguised since most hareidim are working off books or in industries that the government doesn’t officially notice (such as the tens of thousands employed in yeshivos and seminaries, which attract a huge number of foreign students bringing in loads of foreign currency).
“Lapid added that the challenge of extricating the nation from bleak economic realities is “today’s Yitzias Mitzrayim” as far as he is concerned.”
What a dunce!
Does being an MK count as working? Because we’re making improvement there. Got 2 more than last time. And room for expansion if Lapid wants to help.
As a charadi who worked some 30 years in Israel, there is so much discrimination against hiring charadim in Israel an investigation of the workplace ethics is needed.
How Lapid can expect charadim to even try to enter a secular Israeli workforce with out some anti discrimination legislature is beyond me.
Unfortunately we see from all “Gadolhadorah’s” posts, that (s)he isn’t much of a gadol in anything, other than perhaps being a gadol b’anti shomray torah u’mitzvos.
That being said, is it time to admit that European style socialism is failing in the m’dina too?
The simplest way to solve this problem and dozens of others is to abolish the draft. It would automatically free up Billions of Shekels and ten of thousands of people. Until Israel’s ruling elite gives up its fantasy of creating a communist utopia, no real progress can be made on any issue. This delusional group keeps the draft, not for any military purpose, but in the psychotic belief that they can produce a new type of Jew who will docilely work their fields and factories.
So let us not loose sight of the real issue. It is not the draft, it is not the Hareidim, it is not the economy. It is the communist fantasies of Israel’s elite.
‘hareidim working “off the books”’
That can’t be. Working “off the books” is asur!