Israel is experiencing a steep rise in the cost of living and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett promised on Sunday at the weekly Cabinet meeting that the government would take steps to address the issue in the coming days.
There are various reasons for the rise, including the worldwide rise in the cost of living due to supply chain delays caused by the COVID pandemic, leading many major Israeli companies to increase their prices in recent weeks. There’s also been a rise in electricity and gas prices recently, the cost of vegetables has risen due to the many recent stormy days in Israel, and there’s been a rise in the price of eggs and poultry due to the recent avian flu outbreak. Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, the cost of living in Israel is already extremely high. Israel is tied with Iceland in second place for the highest cost of living in the world, with only Switzerland rating higher.
After the Cabinet meeting, it was decided that the Finance Ministry will prepare a national plan for reducing the cost of living.
However, apparently, there is no need for Lieberman to prepare a plan because he already has all the answers. Of course, it’s the Chareidim who are to blame for the high cost of living!
Speaking at a Yisrael Beiteinu party meeting on Monday afternoon, Leiberman said: “Regarding the cost of living, strangely everyone ignores one of the factors. Over 50% of the Chareidi sector isn’t part of the labor force and this is one of the main reasons for the high cost of living.”
UTJ MK Yaakov Litzman stated in response: “Lieberman’s severe words of incitement while blaming the Chareidi public for the high cost of living and the poverty he decrees on Am Yisrael deserves condemnation.”
“This is anti-Semitic slander, reminiscent of dark times, in which the Jews were blamed for all the evils and troubles of humanity. It’s a busha and disgrace to the government that a person who denigrates an entire sector holds a responsible position as a finance minister.”
UTJ chairman Moshe Gafni said: “The harsh statements about the cost of living made by Lieberman during a party meeting are not even worthy of a response. His words should be sent in a wheelbarrow to the garbage dump.”
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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24 Responses
Jewish nazi
The question is not if its antisemitic or not, the question is if it’s true or not that large percentage of charedim depend on taxpayers funds. Considering the fact that it is not only normal but respectable for charedi men to not work, why would charedim get insulted by this statement?
That would break the rules of basic economics. If the Charedim worked they would have more money which means they would spend more which would drive prices up in this low supply environment. If Lieberman got a flat tire it would be the fault of the Charedim. His opinions aren’t worth bits wasted putting this on the net.
But Bennett was/is considering developing a new party with Yvette and Saar: Bennett’s two compatriots.
The former head of the Bank of Israel, Stanley Fisher said Haredim cause a base 6% rate of unemployment. you would have to be innumerate not to recognize that fact as a cause of inflation. not the only but certainly a major cause
Lieberman should live till 120 years! – and SEE every single one his offspring as full Chareidi, all in in Yeshivos and Kollelim – none at work! – בני בניו של המן למדו תורה בבני ברק
He’s not claiming anything earth-shattering. If a large group of people don’t work, and instead receive more money from the state than working people, then of course the people that work will each end up paying a bit more for many things. From taxes to security to health care to everything else. It’s not rocket science. I think we can acknowledge this even if we think, fine, so costs of living increase for working people but we’re ok with that because of the great benefits of large numbers of people not working (so they can learn, not expose them to secular culture, etc).
If 50% were unemployed and not seeking work, shouldn’t that result in a massive spike in wages as employers bid up the price of labor to find workers? Well, not really. Average wages in EY in 2021 increased modest and certainly on a weighted basis, were NOT the major contributor to inflation.
While there is a need to substantially increase Chareidi participation in the labor force, don’t make them a pinata’ for every thing that is wrong with the medinah.
typical for this am Haaretz, pig eater and amolek
no wonder that the Reb Elchonon called Zionists the Amalekim they hate frum Jews.
If the charedi community were not to take money from public sector and live, maybe poorer than others, but in dignity, they will not only not affect the rest of the economy, but would provide a shining example to the less-religious Israelis. Maybe non-Israeli charedim should step up (even more) and make Israeli Issahar less dependent on unwilling Zevulun. Can you imagine how it will improve shalom al-Israel!?
aml> That would break the rules of basic economics.
it will not. More taxes are collected in order to pay subsidies.
By Chareidim sitting and learning Torah, they bring peace onto Israel.
Ridiculous! Most charedi women work.Why doesn’t Lieberman point to the real problem -the Arabs! The Arabs account for a much higher percentage of welfare payments and have far,far more families where both parents don’t work .And don’t forget all the multiple wives especially by the Bedouin who have the world’s highest birthrate.But no, it’s not politically correct to point to the Arabs!!!
If Torah study isn’t valued, why even have a “Jewish” state?
Can someone give me a straight answer – do Chareidim contribute to Israel economically in a way that equates with the public funding they demand and receive?
A Lieberman has no credibility re chareidim anymore – now the way taxes work here is not like in the states. We pay taxes on every item we buy and then there’s mas hachnasa on salaries above a certain amount depending how many ‘credit points’ one has, most salaries of pple who are married and have a few children don’t pay income tax.
If the Zionists wouldn’t shmad the chareidim (in the IDF, etc.) and would simply immediately enact a permanent and irrevocable blanket exemption from the IDF for all chareidim, then there would be much more chareidim working.
But as long as the Zionists attempt to shmad the chareidim, the Zionists will also impoverish those chareidim, which the Zionists seem quite happy to do.
Let this pig-eater exempt all the chareidim from the shmad IDF and then see how many are not working.
According to his “theory” the rise in prices should correspond to a rise in chareidim not working. Have more chareidim stopped working recently? Perhaps he meant that such a trend has a delayed effect on the economy 50 or 60 years after chareidim stop working?
Apparently nobody hates Jews more than secular Jews!
Lieberman was trying to explain why Israel’s cost of living has risen. If Chareidi participation in the labor market has been steady at 50% since before the rise, then the Chareidim have not been a cause of the increase.
A tougher question – a Halachic question – is, how many Jews should be full time learners? 50%, 100%, 10%, or something else? Any answers, folks?
Some people here actually believe Leiberman.
It’s sad.
and like HaKatan mentioned- I know Israeli Chareidim that would love to work but then they are drafted in the army, so they are forced not to work.
and the rise in prices here in the states is also due to the Chareidim?
Feeding all those welfare recipients and muzzies is expansive!
Covertcorgi,
No they don’t!