Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz criticized the government's plan to freeze the Wisconsin Plan in Sunday morning's cabinet meeting.
“Until now, we successfully avoided high unemployment rates of 10-20% like those in Europe and the US,” Steinitz said. “Last week, our struggle against unemployment took a hit, when the Labor, Welfare and Health Committee did not renew the program. Not renewing the program is a scandal that may cause thousands of Israelis to lose their jobs.”
Steinitz added that “the decision to cancel the program is populist, cheap and irresponsible. The Prime Minister and I decided this morning that within a few weeks, we will propose a new nation-wide employment program, and we will not give in to populist pressures.
