It appears that in this case, the public outcry was heard, and it made an impact, as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced the reported hike in the price of electricity expected in January 2019 will be less than the originally planned 8%. Perhaps Israelis have taken their lead from the yellow vest protests in France.

In his address to a business conference, Mr. Netanyahu justified the fact that the cost of electricity in Israel remains far lower than in Europe. He did not however mention the salaries paid in Israel as compared to the same countries paying higher electric bills in Israel, conveniently omitted from his comments. However, Mr. Netanyahu added the hike will not be 8%, stating “I don’t know how much it will increase, but it will be a few percent in the worse case scenario”.

Mr. Netanyahu added that since 2013, electricity prices have dropped 15% due to the discovery of the Tamar natural gas field off the nation’s coast.

Along with the increase in electricity, Israelis will be hit with price hikes for water, municipal taxes and subsidized bread. Osem this week announced that due to public pressure and a request from Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, it is postponing a planned 4.5% increase. Osem is the nation’s third-largest food producer.

In response to Osem’s generosity, the Finance Minister is now checking into the possibility of lowering taxes on raw materials used by the company in the production of food for Israel.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)