Israbloff: The reform that will not be included in the plan to fight the cost of living

Tonight will be published a government plan to fight the cost of living that will include tax breaks, lowering the price of electricity and reducing taxation on food, but with all due respect to the plan, one important interest will not be in it: agriculture reform, a real answer to the cost of living.

This is how the agricultural lobby wins the war against the finance minister's flagship reform

Liat Ron

09/02/2022

Wednesday, 09 February 2022, 08:57 Updated: 09:18

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Tonight the government will publish the plan to fight the cost of living.

It will likely include adding income tax credits to working families, lowering the price of electricity and reducing food taxation.

What will not be in it is the reform of agriculture, a significant step in lowering the prices of the food basket for the citizens of Israel.

Why is a move so important out there?

Because of an interest group, which works in every way possible to postpone, dissolve, delay, defame and bury it, although there is no doubt that the time has come for it to set out.

And by the way, any worthy goal - even if it is the members of the committee to examine the mediation gaps, the one that the farmers themselves sought to establish, who snatch from the beginning of the week a flood of slander to pre-tattoo the conclusions they are supposed to submit by the end of the month.

Today, people close to the attack committee are coming up, because they are just tired.

"It's easy to discredit public servants," says one of them, "and publish finger-sucking things. It's all bullying public relations and media strategies."

As part of the agricultural import reform, which was supposed to be included in the arrangements law and continued from it, the Ministry of Finance and Agriculture intend to reduce import duties on fruits and vegetables over five years, whose average price has risen by 20% in the last decade.

The ministers of finance and agriculture were supposed to announce tonight the abolition of tariffs without the need for legislation, but the political pressure from the coalition - of the Labor Party, Blue and White and Meretz postponed the announcement at least until the end of February. Pulling time with a pre-determined end.

The committee, which is supposed to examine who is responsible for the brokerage gaps and if any, from the moment the produce leaves the field to the supermarket shelf, began its work on October 10 last year.

It is headed by Dr. Ron Malka, Director General of the Ministry of Economy, and its members are Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture Naama Kaufen-Pess, Commissioner for Competition Michal Cohen and Deputy Commissioner for Budgets at the Ministry of Finance, Adi Hachmon. Its establishment) are not members of it, and this drives them crazy.

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The Ministers of Finance and Agriculture, Avigdor Lieberman and Oded Forer: Will they succeed in saving their flagship reform? (Photo: Reuven Castro)

Farmers' accusations: "Shoot the arrow and then mark the target"

The report to be written by the committee will be the third to deal with the issue, preceded by the report of the Knesset Research Center, which was compiled by the Prices Committee and the report of the Competition Authority. , Which may hurt consumers, and examined whether there is an abnormal profitability of any of the factors in the supply chain, which makes a coffers at the expense of consumers or both.The conclusions were similar: because of high fruit and vegetable prices,

As part of the negotiations with the Ministry of Agriculture on the reform, farmers stood on their hind legs, pressed - and the committee set out, despite opposition from the Ministry of Finance, which saw no need for another committee. At the same time they negotiated with the Ministry of Agriculture.

In the days of Alon Schuster as Minister of Agriculture, farmers were offered a direct subsidy of NIS 40 per dunam, Minister Forer increased the amount to NIS 100 and also added increasing the number of foreign workers, reducing water tariffs, enacting a law to encourage capital investment in agriculture, building an online wholesale market, and NIS 1 billion. To introduce new technologies, in exchange for lowering caps on fruits and vegetables to only 10%, spread over five years.

All this did not satisfy Dubi Amitai, president of the Farmers' Association (and chairman of the "Business Sector Presidency") who conducted the negotiations.

"We made a calculation," he tells Walla, "that the savings for the family will be only NIS 60, but will fatally harm agriculture in the Galilee, the Golan Heights and the Gaza Strip. .

At the end of the date set for the public hearing, and after allegations of dragging their feet and deliberate delay in negotiations on the part of the farmers, Minister Oded Forer announced that he intended to lower the tariffs immediately. For another ten days, Forrer's office tried to speak to the hearts of Amitai and his friends, but to no avail.

Last weekend, contacts between the parties were severed.

On Sunday, Dubi Amitai was interviewed on Radio North 104.5 FM, and announced that according to the leaks he received, the committee to examine the brokerage gaps is about to rule against the farmers and that all committee members are vested in interests.

"The Ministries of Agriculture and Finance shot the arrow and then marked the target," Amitai tells Walla. "Everything was pre-addicted. I submitted my reports to them as a farmer and they did not even bother to open them."

"We did not get into the issue of how farmers oppress us ..." (Photo: ShutterStock)

"In communist China it does not happen"

Sources close to the committee, who are satisfied with the farmers' sticks and tricks, take off gloves.

"When the public hearing was over and they realized they could not take any longer," says one of them, "the farmers have moved from a course of reform smuggling, to the slander of four committee members, all economists, impartial people who do the work objectively. Because slandering public servants does not cost money "We conducted

a

test and their allegations of finger-sucking leaks, were not and were not created. It's all part of a time-pulling tactic and a strategy of 'let's say the conclusions are against us in advance, to tattoo them when they are published. And if wrong, then not terrible.' .

Another source tells Walla, "We could show that there are farmers with very high incomes, monopolies like the associations of 'Bereishit' and 'Tali', a cartel of price coordination through the various councils, but we did not get into the issue of how farmers oppress us, but we examine data that stand "They do not understand that people are tired of thinking how many times before they buy

a

cucumber, when farmers determine how much ."

Will grow, what will be the price and where will they sell, in communist China this is not happening.

There have already been three reports on this matter, all of which are before us, and all of which have found that there is no unique problem in the mediation gaps in agriculture and the delusional expectation that there will be a different outcome for the fourth time.

We did not want to get to this committee in advance precisely because of that.

"The committee was supposed to end its role more than a week ago, and we are afraid that they will use it to dissolve the reform, through tattooing the conclusions. Negotiations have exploded, it is impossible to reach agreements, 'Yesh Atid' has also given up because of the farmers.

"Real Bear's claims that we did not examine his financial statements are ridiculous. The methodology is not based on one apple grower, but on averages."

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• agriculture

• Avigdor Lieberman

• Ministry of Finance

• A real bear

• reform