Comptroller resists pressure from Likud to release report on housing
Sources close to State Comptroller Joseph Shapira said the date for publishing the report was set before the election was advanced.
By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMANState Comptroller Joseph Shapira(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
State Comptroller Joseph Shapira will release a report on the housing crisis next week despite pressure on him by Likud to delay the report until after the March 17 election.Sources close to Shapira said the date for publishing the report was set before the election was advanced."The state comptroller is not a player in the political sphere," a source close to Shapira said. "When a comptroller's report is ready, it legally must be published. Our office's work is done with only professional considerations in mind. It is improper for the comptroller or his office to be influenced by a political timeline."Shapira's associates said the housing crisis was serious and harmed the weakest sectors of the population. They said the report would analyze work done by several ministries and multiple governments.They called upon the politicians not to "make cynical use" of Shapira's reports.Koolanu leader Moshe Kahlon called upon Shapira not to give into political pressure to delay his report's publication. He called the report on housing "the most important report that the comptroller will publish for years to come."Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog said the report on the housing crisis would have a serious impact on the election.Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid will present his party's platform on housing Sunday morning at a construction site in Rosh Ha'ayin.
