Israel Beiteinu: Let cabinet discuss economic plan

Ministers Meseznikov, Landau and Landver demand that PM review party's economic response to demonstrations.

By LAHAV HARKOV
311_Stas Meseznikov (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem / The Jerusalem Post)
311_Stas Meseznikov
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem / The Jerusalem Post)
Three Israel Beiteinu ministers demanded on Thursday that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu call a meeting of his 16-minister socioeconomic cabinet to talk about the party’s new economic plan.
Tourism Minister Stas Meseznikov, National Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau and Immigrant Absorption Minister Sofa Landver wrote in a letter to Netanyahu that Israel Beiteinu’s plan, which was publicized on Wednesday, “is meant to give a response to the real crisis, which has been expressed through widespread social protests.”
The letter points out their agenda is the only comprehensive economic plan released by any party since the housing protests broke out.
“Israel Beiteinu sees a great importance in taking urgent and substantial steps to solve the social and economic problems,” the ministers added.
“The plan, with a scope of NIS 6 billion, is based on changing priorities in the budget without breaking its framework,” the letter said.
“Among the main economic steps are subsidization of daycare centers, tax breaks, providing unemployment funds for the self-employed, taking care of the housing crisis by providing government guarantees for mortgages.”
The ministers explained the expenses will be paid by raising corporate taxes by one percentage point, among other changes in the government’s tax policies.
They also wrote the system of government must be changed in order to improve social conditions in the long term, but “this topic can be discussed in another framework.”
Last month, Netanyahu appointed Prof. Manuel Trajtenberg to form a committee to evaluate the protesters’ demands and plan a new economic policy for the government.
However, Israel Beiteinu came up with its own initiative weeks before Trajtenberg is scheduled to present his panel’s findings to the socioeconomic cabinet, which is headed by Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz.