Minister of Science and Technology Yizhar Shai (blue and white) tells under what circumstances he knew Benny Gantz, talks about his love for the Knesset and regrets the large number of ministers • "It was the political price we had to pay to extract the Knesset from the dead end"
About four years ago, New Science and Technology Minister Yizhar Shay at the New York airport boarded an El Al plane on his way to Israel and took his place in the business class, preparing for a comfortable night's sleep. When he turned his gaze to those sitting beside him, he saw Benny Gantz's face. "I said to him, 'Very nice, my name is Shizhar Xi,' and he replied, 'My name is Benny Gantz.' I told him, 'You know me. When do you run for prime minister?'" Shay recalls.
[video]
Before takeoff, the captain informed passengers that there was a plane malfunction, in which MK Moshe Ya'alon also stayed. All passengers went down to the terminal, and on their return to the plane after two hours, Gantz asked Xi about his social activities with at-risk youth and the high-tech field he has been practicing for many years. Schanzz took the time to read online details about his neighbor on the flight.
Throughout the flight, instead of sleeping, they talked about literature, economics, high-tech, Israeli songs, and of course - politics. When the plane landed at Ben Gurion Airport, they arranged to meet, slowly. Their ties were tightened and they became friends and Shai was involved in all the procedures for establishing a resilience party for Israel. "My encounter with Gantz on the plane reminded me of a sentence I heard years ago that 'life is a meeting,' which means many things that happen to us in life originate from a meeting," says Shay.
You were excited last week when you swore allegiance to the Minister of Science in the new government?
"Very much. I was especially excited at the ministerial exchange ceremony at the Ministry of Science when I saw my name as a permanent" Minister of Science and Technology "on a sign at the entrance to the minister's office."
Did you believe that only a year after entering politics you would already be a minister in government?
"I did not believe that I would be a minister so quickly. To admit the truth, there are times when I regret that I am so quick to be a minister because ministers are not so much in the legislative work of the Knesset. A Knesset member can spend all his time working in the legislative work in the Knesset. In the year since I was elected to the Knesset, I fell in love with it, which is always awe-inspiring.Every time I go to the podium for a speech, I am reminded of the same booth of the State of Israel's leading leaders and statesmen who visited it. "The Knesset should return to its natural place. The status of the Knesset should be quite different than it is today."
"Identifies Public Audit"
Doesn't it bother you that an inflated government with 36 ministers has been set up, with more than one million unemployed citizens? Is this not the opacity of the government?
"I do not like the large number of government ministers and sympathize with the public criticism that in a situation of economic crisis in the economy, unemployed and hundreds of thousands of citizens who find it difficult to bring food home, such a government was formed. I feel very uncomfortable with this situation. That was the political price we had to pay to extract the Knesset from the impasse that we have been in for a year and a half, according to the Treasury's calculations, the cost of increasing the government to 36 ministers is NIS 85 million a year, and assuming that this government lasts four years. NIS 340 million, but on the other hand, if we went to a fourth election, we would have spent NIS 2 billion. "
Why didn't you ask the Likud to reduce the number of ministers?
"We raised this demand in coalition negotiations, but unfortunately the Likud rejected it."
In addition to the increase in the number of ministers, you also intend to enact Norwegian law, which will result in the addition of 12 MKs at a cost of NIS 1.7 million per MK. What justification is there for this?
"Relative to other costs, this is a marginal addition. It is important that the Knesset can function and fulfill its role as a legislative and government body. This is the price of democracy, and we will have to pay it. The alternative was to go to elections, which of course was far more expensive and we might have come to the same situation in terms of Distribution of political power relations. "
Before the election, like your other blue-and-white friends, under harsh criticism of Netanyahu and saying that "Netanyahu is a chapter in Israeli history," and now you serve as a minister in his government. Do you live with it in peace?
"As a Democrat, I believe in every Iberian chief that I was part of a party that has undergone a democratic process designed to replace the government, but it must be acknowledged that we have not been able to convince the electorate that we are an alternative to the government, and the current government should continue. The possibility we faced after the election was either a fourth election or trying to solve the crisis in another way. I believe that both parties have done the right thing to get out of the difficult political crisis that has plagued us and restore stability to our lives. I am sure that in the end, the leaders of the two big parties, Netanyahu and Gantz, have made an important and important leadership decision and deserve credit for it. Both parties have agreed to tough compromises, and both have no sense of victory. "
"I didn't come to make a living"
The fact that you are a wealthy and resourceful person thanks to your high-tech activities will make it easier for you to do political activities?
"I did not come to the Knesset to make a living. Today I donate a third of my salary in the Knesset and pass it on to organizations dealing with informal youth education. I can afford that, because I led and managed two companies, I was a venture capital partner and then I worked in high-tech and I was an entrepreneur. "Although I grew up in a low-income family, my wife and I worked really hard to raise a family with four children."
Do you already have a coherent plan for how to advance the science and technology topic?
"I want to advance the whole topic of research and science in order for the Ministry of Science to be a leading firm in the field of innovation and technology. With regard to the Corona crisis, Israel must develop capabilities in research and development and in the field of viral diseases. The Ministry funded 84 studies, some with international cooperation, aimed at finding test solutions. , Vaccines and drugs. "