Finance Minister Yair Lapid shared his vision for the 2015 state budget with participants in an economic conference. He explained that he prefers not to increase taxes, for doing so every time there is a national budgetary need places additional burdens on taxpayers.
Lapid stated that instead of another tax increase, the deficit may be increased while the nation’s defense needs are addressed along with providing social services to create a powerful national growth engine. Lapid explains “we have to admit that a low deficit is not a goal in of itself”. He detailed a low deficit is designed to allow an economic safety margin in case something out of the ordinary occurs, using a global crisis, military campaign or a hurricane as examples. Lapid stated this is why the other measures were taken in the previous budget, to widen the deficit in the external exogenous events – events that are not controlled, such as Operation Protective Edge.
The senior minister stated the steps taken permit absorbing most of the cost of the military operation in the 2013-2014 budget despite significant increases in the budgets of the education, health and social welfare ministries.
He feels the 2015 does not necessarily have to keep us on the same track, but it may take us to new places. He spoke of the need for creative economic policies towards creating new opportunities, an economy that is strong and vibrant, building the future through education that encourages small and medium enterprise accomplished by innovative programs, particularly in the chareidi and Arab sectors by bringing chareidi men and Arab women into the workplace.
The new budget will intensively focus on lowering the cost of living through summer vacation camps, improving healthcare, building 500 daycare centers, lowering food prices, continuing the efforts of the current administration, and lowering apartment costs via a number of programs including the zero VAT plan.
Lapid stated that bringing chareidi men and Arab women into the workplace will be a major focus of the efforts to improve the economy and increase productivity.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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5 Responses
Will Lapid force Israeli Arab women (or men) to join the IDF as he would like to force Chareidim?
1. A third to a half of the Arab workforce are anxious to join – and to replace all non-Arabs in all jobs. Many of the remaining Arabs either are in the Israeli workforce already, or while not support an Islamic State/Hamas, etc. takeover are not comfortable working in a secular western workplace.
2. Most Hareidim are gainfully employed in learning Torah as a profession, drawing a subsitence from a field that is largely funded by foreign contributions. Whether the government should support humanities in general is a different matter, but supporting Torah is a lot cheaper than what the government pays to people studying humanities in the universities.
3. The Israeli workplace is hostile to hareidim. Reeducating the secular workforce to accomodate minorities will be hard to do given Israel’s militantly secular culture, which is why the government is focusing on programs (such as conscription) to “de-hareidisize” the hareidim so they can be assimilated into the zionist mainstream.
As if Charedi men are only waiting for his approval to leave yeshivos and kollelim and join the workforce.
#1 Over 1/3 of chilonim esp from Tel Aviv dodge the draft, many of them armed with letters from doctors/psychiatrists, etc. Let him first try getting those to join the IDF before he starts up with Arabs or Charedim.
The real question is when will Pretty Boy join the work force? He has been a parasite living off the public his whole life. There is not a single productive accomplishment to his entire life.
#4
The oldest policy of his academic and super rich backers
Aw..have the ‘others’ do the work
akin to King Ahab
“Kill and inherit”their spoils
and Pharaoh
“Tichbad Ha’avodah al ha’anashim “