Video: The government approves the state budget for 202415.01.2024/Video (uploaded to server): Omer Meron / GPO, Sound: Ben Peretz / GPO
Most government ministers who were initially reluctant to approve the 2024 budget eventually relented yesterday. It turned out that the cuts that landed on them were mostly goats, and the treasury officials concealed, like magicians, billions of shekels from these cuts.
Tourism Minister Haim Katz left satisfied and announced yesterday that he would vote in favor of the budget. Education Minister Yoav Kish, who left the meeting slamming the door, reduced the cut in the education budget from NIS 860 million to NIS 300 million, with an additional NIS 280 million for evacuees.
Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter reduced the cut in agriculture from NIS 860 million to NIS 280 million. Transportation Minister Miri Regev left with most of her lust in her hands after it became clear that the NIS 360 million public transportation fare reform would not be canceled, and NIS 2 billion would also be allocated to a plan to connect Israel to a railway network from north to Eilat.
Despite the 2024 increase in the Public Security Ministry budget received by Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who threatened to vote against it, he will get what he wants, and the scope of the cut will be significantly reduced. After Energy Minister Eli Cohen threatened not to support the budget, it was agreed that electricity tariffs would not rise beyond the CPI as a result of the carbon tax.
Regev. Succeeded in preserving discounts on public transportation for the ultra-Orthodox / Reuven Castro
So where did all the billions of shekels that Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich agreed to give up so much came from? How will the defense budget, which will increase by NIS 24 billion this year to NIS 99 billion, be funded? So that's it, that the 2024 budget is full of asterisks and holes in the shafts of the terror tunnels in Gaza. It's the Grandmaser Tales budget.
VAT will only be raised by 2025% conditionally in 1 and is reaffirmed towards the end of 2025. The NIS 8 billion cut in coalition funds will be minor. Government ministries will not be cut, except for one exercise: the transfer of Amichai Shikli's Ministry of Social Equality (who will continue as Diaspora Minister) will be transferred to May Golan.
Of all the other promises made by the finance minister, nothing will remain. So where will the money for all this good come from? It will come from the terrible patent of jumping the deficit from NIS 55 billion, which was supposed to be in the original budget, to an alarming NIS 140 billion.
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The Cabinet meeting today on the budget. Let's throw some numbers into the air/Government Press Office, Haim Tzach
The deficit will soar to about 8% of GDP, which is a number that should alarm any economic decision-maker with minimal integrity. Since the Netanyahu government and its leader are irresponsible and conscientious, a budget is underway that puts Israel's credit rating in tangible danger.
It is likely that in a few months, an amended 2024 budget will be submitted to the government for approval. If Ministers Benny Gantz and Gideon Sa'ar opposed the reckless budget in its softened version, they will not wake up and draw conclusions, the responsibility will fall on them as well.
Gideon Sa'ar explained: "Economic risk management in Israel's situation must be cautious and conservative. We must reduce the expected budget deficit beyond what is proposed here."
There are no free meals, and the price of the NIS 140 billion deficit will eventually be paid by all of us with compound interest. If not tomorrow then the day after tomorrow.
- More on the subject:
- State budget
- Deficit
- Bezalel Smotrich
- Benjamin Netanyahu