Katz and Netanyahu fail to present economic plan, despite pledge

The plan was not presented to the public, allegedly because the Finance Ministry is ironing out the delivery mechanism meant to make sure the money would actually get to those who need it most.

By HAGAY HACOHEN
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sits next to foreign minister Israel Katz during a cabinet meeting (photo credit: REUTERS)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sits next to foreign minister Israel Katz during a cabinet meeting
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Israeli society, faced with one million jobs lost due to the coronavirus pandemic, mounting civic unrest and increasing reports of families requesting food charity to sustain themselves, looked to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for answers.
Up until now it hasn’t gotten any. Finance Minister Israel Katz and Netanyahu failed to present a workable financial program to the nation.
Details about the plan Katz is pushing for include the extension of unemployment benefits until June 2021, a suspension of mortgage payments, business loans to be offered by the state to the tune of NIS 23 billion and offering extra aid to those over the age of 67 who face unemployment, Channel 13 reported.
The plan was not presented to the public, allegedly because the Finance Ministry is ironing out the delivery mechanism meant to make sure the money would actually get to those who need it most.
The concerns of the ministry are well founded.
Previous plans offering aid to businesses that rehire workers sent on unpaid leave, released by the Finance Ministry, were met with rage when it was discovered that businesses that kept their people employed won’t get the aid, while Fox Group, which announced it would share over NIS 40 million of profits in dividends, would get millions more courtesy of the state. The public rage led to Fox Group announcing it passed on the grant, which was over NIS 10m., but Katz was the minister under whose watch it happened.
Likewise, Netanyahu held a remote discussion with business owners on Tuesday, and they told him loud and clear that they are not getting any of the promised loans they need to survive. Netanyahu blamed the failure on others. “I was under the impression that businesses get the money in the press of a button,” he allegedly told them before turning around and placing the blame at the Finance Ministry’s feet.
The new Health Ministry coronavirus regulations – which limit the numbers of diners a restaurant could serve, indoors and outdoors, close swimming pools yet keep houses of worship open – were met with anger and, it now seems, a refusal to obey. Holmes Place, for example, reported it would keep its gyms open, and its head, Keren Shtevy, complained that she cannot get hold of Culture and Sport Minister Chili Tropper to get answers.
Minister Tzachi Hanegbi said publicly that he thinks those who say they face hunger are just “talking b*****it.” In response, many pointed out that he could pin that title on himself, as his position lacks a portfolio. An out-of-work sound engineer, Eyal Alteratz, spoke on television and screamed that if people don’t get money immediately, Netanyahu will be facing “a world war.” Singer Hemi Rodner called on the public on Wednesday evening to stop paying taxes.
Katz revealed to the public on Monday, via Facebook, the outline of his yet unreleased plan to steer the nation away from ruin during the plague.
“The program will incorporate many other components aimed at helping us to get through the coronavirus crisis and restore the Israeli economy to momentum and growth,” Katz said, adding that he was taking into account lessons learned from previous iterations of such programs.
The Finance Ministry told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday that “we are still working on the plan,” and could not point to where the budget for it would come from, seeing as the government currently does not have an approved budget and is facing a deficit of NIS 6.9b.
Likud MK Nir Barkat lavished praise on Netanyahu, to whom he gave full credit for the growth of the nation’s economy until the recent global health crisis, and slammed Katz repeatedly in a Wednesday interview with Radio 103 FM.
“Is there anyone who does not understand that the Finance [Ministry] failed?” he asked. “One hundred-twenty thousand businesses are on the verge of collapse, 850,000 people are unemployed. Does any one of them think the Finance [Ministry] offers hope? My plan offers hope. I say it is not too late to save these businesses, and the prime minister also understands it.”
Katz presented his plan after Barkat offered his own plan, consisting of three so-called anchors. Barkat also revealed his plan via Facebook and outlined its three steps: a NIS 28b. bailout to 250,000 businesses to prevent them from closing and costing the country even more jobs; a NIS 50b. incentive to encourage the public to purchase Israeli-made goods; and a NIS 10b. grant to offer new vocational programs to help those who are out of a job into a new career path.
Barkat, who was a successful businessman before entering politics, pointed out that this plan is well liked by the business sector. He also said he spent three days working on it.
During the Wednesday radio interview, like Netanyahu, he placed the blame at the feet of the Finance Ministry, claiming that it is run by academics who have no real-world experiences in how to run a business and so are unwilling to spend public money to encourage growth.
“For every NIS 10b. you put [into it],” he told of his plan, “you create 150,000 jobs.”
He mentioned his previous public role as the mayor of Jerusalem and claimed he did the same thing there to save local businesses that lost revenue when tourism dropped in 2014. The plan stipulated that any business losing more than a quarter of its usual yearly income would get two-thirds of that sum back from the state, mitigating the loss. “Four years later, Jerusalem soared,” he said.