Katz, Gafni agree on ‘Check for Every Citizen’ benefits, compromise

Finance Committee Head Moshe Gafni said on Tuesday he will not pass the plan unless his demands are met.

By HAGAY HACOHEN
New Finance Minister Israel Katz (photo credit: FINANCE MINISTRY)
New Finance Minister Israel Katz
(photo credit: FINANCE MINISTRY)
Finance Minister Israel Katz and head of the Knesset Finance Committee UTJ MK Moshe Gafni reached a compromise concerning the “Check for Every Citizen” plan, presented to the committee on Tuesday, which will offer further benefits to families who have more than three children.
The offer is to extend a NIS 500 grant for a fourth child and NIS 300 to the fifth child onward, with no set limit on the eligible number of children. The “Check for Every Citizen” Plan was given an additional NIS 220 million to its cost of NIS 6.5 billion.
Katz denied any changes will be made to the plan previously, and Gafni said he will not approve of it unless his demands are met.
Several ultra-Orthodox (haredi) MKs deemed the demands as fair, to their view, to halt benefits after three children would be unfair to others born to large households. In haredi communities, large families are common.
Originally, families with one child were to get NIS 2,000, those with two NIS 2,500 and those with three NIS 3,000. To halt benefits after three children was seen, by haredi MKs, as “discrimination against thousands of children,” Agudat Yisrael MK Yisrael Eichler said on Tuesday.
The news arrived on the heels of Finance Ministry vice director of budget Ariel Yotzer telling director Shaul Meridor he’ll be leaving the position, the ministry said.
Yotzer  is the second ministry official to resign this week, following  accountant-general Roni Hezekiah quitting on Sunday.
Several issues loom ahead of August 24, the date by which Israel must have a budget or face another round of elections.
Those critical of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, such as Labor MK Merav Michaeli, claim that the “Check for Every Citizen” plan is nothing more than handing out cash with hopes of quelling public unease ahead of new elections. On Monday, Michaeli compared it to “giving out candy.”
Netanyahu denied that he seeks to lead the country to new elections should a budget not pass by the deadline, blaming Blue and White for preventing something that could happen “in minutes.” Blue and White would also have to agree with Likud on who will replace Hezekiah.
How will Israel cover the plan, not to mention the much larger “Safety Net” plan, without a budget?
The solution is a “box” – a massive expense which was not budgeted for because it was unknown.
The coronavirus “box” now has NIS 150 billion in it, the Marker reported. Is it possible that the administration intends to bypass the budget hurdle, if one will not be agreed upon, by creating a health box and an education box ahead of September 1 when schools are set to reopen?
Meridor warned Netanyahu that the “Check for Every Citizen” plan will “turn us into Venezuela,.” meaning a country led by a charismatic leader becoming a socialist economy that might lead to bankruptcy. Meridor was slammed on social media by Likud members for “sabotaging” government policy.


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