Likud MKs call to slash officials' salaries by 10%

Liberman: We need to set personal example, be responsible during budget cuts; government would save nearly NIS 5,700,000.

By LAHAV HARKOV
Liberman 370 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
Liberman 370
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
With government spending due to be cut, Likud Beytenu politicians this week called for ministers’ and MKs’ salaries to be slashed.
If the pay of all MKs and ministers, including Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, is cut by 10 percent, as Yisrael Beytenu has suggested, the government would save close to NIS 5,700,000 annually.
On Tuesday, following a meeting of Yisrael Beytenu ministers, Liberman said his party will back Finance Minister Yair Lapid’s budget and allow him to do what he thinks is best for the economy.
“There is no doubt its easier to give advice than be the person who has to make decisions, and much easier to criticize than take responsibility. We will not behave that way,” Liberman said, calling for politicians to behave responsibly in dealing with the budget.
“We ask all MKs to give up 10% of their pay between now and the end of 2014,” he added. “We hope the prime minister, Knesset Speaker and finance minister will support our suggestion, so that beyond the savings in the budget, we will set a personal example in a difficult time.”
Similarly, Deputy Minister Ofir Akunis took to his Facebook profile on Wednesday to call for elected officials, including ministers, deputy ministers and MKs, to set a personal example and accept a lower salary.
“I support with all my heart the initiative to cut our pay,” Akunis wrote. “The new budget will not be simple. The cuts will be deep and painful.” He called for pay cuts for judges and ministry directors-general, as well.
Public officials’ salaries went up by 3% at the beginning of this year. They increase according to the consumer price index.
Following their raises this year, President Shimon Peres makes NIS 53,457 per month and Netanyahu makes NIS 46,613. Ministers, deputy ministers, Bank of Israel Gov. Stanley Fischer and State Comptroller Joseph Shapira earn NIS 41,868 and Knesset members get NIS 38,296.