Middle-class populism: Who benefits from the economic plan?

If the public had considered every time the prime minister and finance minister mentioned that they were "not populist," the cost of living might have been less terrible.

But Lieberman and Bennett did exactly what the Likud did before them: they cared about the electorate of the coalition parties.

It may be more sophisticated populism, but certainly not more moral

Liat Ron

10/02/2022

Thursday, 10 February 2022, 12:08 Updated: 12:23

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Yesterday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett introduced the citizens of Israel to the Gonen family.

"I want to tell you a story about the Gonen family," Bennett began at the gala press conference, at which the government's plan to lower the cost of living was presented.

"For years she has been giving and giving, her parents have served in the military, paid taxes and she perseveres. These are the good people who get up every morning, send the kids and go to work. This family looks at poor brides at the expense of the writer and the taxes that eat the salary for many years."

It is not for nothing that Bennett chose this particular family.

If we go down for a moment to details he did not say about it, we can assume that it is a family with three young children, hired parents living in one of the cities ranked in clusters that reflect a classic middle class, the one for whom this program was tailor-made, the potential electorate of most coalition parties.

This specific audience benefited from the addition of credit points for working parents with children up to the age of 12, annual savings of NIS 5,352 per family, and a reduction in tariffs on food products, car spare parts and raw materials.

In order not to have lips of concern for a selected sector, about a third of the NIS 4.4 billion will be directed to subsidizing after-school programs in disadvantaged communities for ages 3-8 and an additional 20% for negative income tax grants.

If Benjamin Netanyahu had stood on the same podium, he would probably have chosen a completely different family, say, the Ne'eman family, whose two parents earn less than the minimum wage and can barely support their children, live in the geographical or social periphery, and need state support.

The Finance Minister's plan in his government included concern for the weaker sections, for those who go out to work and do not reach the income tax threshold, and are unable to finish the month.

The "net" plans of the former finance minister were based on this audience, in which tax reductions of NIS 1.7 billion were promoted for all parents of small children, the daycare subsidy was extended, tariffs on cell phones, clothing, appliances and cosmetics were reduced, and purchase tax was reduced on a variety of products.

This is what happens when the ultra-Orthodox hold your coalition and if you do not give their electorate what it needs, you will not be in power.

In a government without the ultra-Orthodox, like the current one, it is possible to behave differently.

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Friends tell about the Gonen family.

Populism in a sophisticated version

In the video: A press conference by the Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Economy, in which they announce measures to reduce the cost of living (Photo: GPO)

One can be populist even if one does not talk about the poor

Almost absurdly, the Likud, which believes in capitalism as an economic ideology, cared for the weak and needy populations during his reign, while the government, of which the left-wing Social Democrats, those who support the welfare state, care, at least in the plan to lower the cost of living.

There is no more money scattered than helicopters, no price reductions for everyone, and those who will receive financial help are a relatively small number of citizens selected with tweezers.

Although the Bennett government is patchwork on patchwork, it is all based on middle-class voters, from right-wing parties to the left.

The settlers and mustards of the right, the voters of "Yesh Atid" and "Yisrael Beiteinu", (Lieberman is no longer based only on new immigrants who came to Israel without a pension, but mainly on the second and third generation, who integrated well, some working in high-tech).

Even Avodah and Meretz, whose leaders speak highly of the values ​​of justice for all, know that those who choose them will be members of the moshavs and kibbutzim that have been privatized, those who oppose agricultural reform that could lower the cost of living but could hurt their incomes.

All the "Gonen" families of the Israeli middle class are finally at peace.

After years of no one counting them, suddenly the focus is on them.

But when Bennett thanks Lieberman for promoting a correct and unpopular policy, all that remains is to smile a cynical smile.

One can be populist even when not talking about the poor.

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• Avigdor Lieberman

• Naftali Bennett

• Cost of living