In the video: Benjamin Netanyahu and Bezalel Smotrich present the plan to deal with rising prices in the economy (Walla system!)
The new prime time concert tour of "Mr. TV", Binyamin Netanyahu, was launched yesterday at the first press conference of the season.
The promo promised an "economic emergency plan to fight the cost of living", but with the opening of the event, at the exact timing of peak viewing, ten minutes before eight, we again discovered that there is a gap between expectations and the content, which looks like a combination of measures that were formulated quickly to calm the public and cause more harm than good.
The plan includes the freezing of the property tax rate for one year, a reduction of ten cents in the price of fuel, a 70% cut in the increase in the electricity rate, and a 70% reduction in the price of water for the entire population.
In addition, it was decided to completely cancel the increase in the price of electricity for 100,000 small and medium-sized businesses and a financial grant of NIS 200 for 300,000 entitled to a heating grant.
Netanyahu emphasized that he is fulfilling his election promise, but this figure is also inaccurate.
The Prime Minister stated in the last campaign that he intends to lower the prices of the "inflation generators", electricity, fuel, property tax and water.
He did reduce the excise tax on fuel, through the tax reduction order, just like the outgoing finance minister, Avigdor Lieberman, did.
The property tax was indeed frozen, but the prices of electricity and water did not decrease, rather their increase was moderated.
Who uses more electricity, the rich or the poor? (Photo: ShutterStock)
Chopper for the rich at the expense of the poor
He filled out the truth in the publication, which does not really exist here, but there is no economic logic in this course of action, which not only the finance officials had reservations about, but also the finance minister himself.
Water and electricity are rising due to realistic reasons, such as inflation and a delay in the transition of the electric company from coal to gas.
Playing with these numbers also costs money, also fuels inflation, both benefits the powerful populations and creates economic distortion.
Who uses more electricity, fuel and water - the poor or the rich who can afford to spend more?
All the studies show that as the level of income increases, so does the use of electricity, water and fuel.
In other words: Netanyahu gave a big chopper to the high income earners.
The property tax freeze also has a much greater effect on those who pay high property taxes, since the bottom deciles pay a reduced or only symbolic property tax - ask the municipality of Bnei Brak, for example.
And what's more: freezing the property tax will cause the local authorities to provide fewer services, which are probably needed more among weak populations - certainly if the property tax is reduced for a hundred thousand medium and small businesses, which subsidize the property tax for residences.
Reducing the increase in electricity and water prices will not lower the prices in the supermarket.
The Messiah will come before the manufacturers and marketing chains go on a crazy discount campaign.
We all know that after the prices have gone up, there is no force in the world that will bring them back down, and anyway for some of the importers, manufacturers and retailers the increase in electricity prices was only a fig leaf - they will soon find another reason that will show the greed of some of them as the order of the hour.
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Smotrich and Netanyahu.
The Minister of Finance was only an extra at the Prime Minister's show last night.
Will his worldview be reflected in the next and essential part of the economic plan? (Photo: Yanon Yatach)
The MKs laugh, the elderly are humiliated
The prime minister relies on the lack of economic knowledge of the majority of the public, whose slogans such as "immediately lowering the prices of inflation generators", "cutting the price increase" and "freezing" capture his heart.
He missed the least endearing part of the equation: gifts have to be paid for.
And those who will pay with compound interest for the cosmetic treatment of inflation, are the citizens of Israel and especially the weaker classes.
Where does the money come from?
asked Smotrich.
"Good budgetary sources" is not an answer, but mainly evidence that the program is not tightened properly.
At not coincidental timing, the National Insurance Institute's poverty report was published today, which states that there are two million poor people in Israel. I do not go into the issue here, whether these are true data, or whether it is necessary, finally, to establish a universal poverty index that will be based on a uniform basket of products and not on parameters that are not A given poverty is necessarily measured, but instead of handing out NIS 200 for heating to the needy, it would have been better to attach the old age allowance and the guaranteed income to the average salary in the economy, such as the salary of the MKs,
The increase in the old-age pension to nearly NIS 150, which we were informed about yesterday, will not make the needy pensioners rich (by the way, the MKs' salary automatically increased by nearly NIS 2,000, from NIS 45,000 to NIS 47,000, not including a generous expense account)
. It will probably not be Netanyahu's last economic appearance. Let's hope that at the next press conference, which will present the second and essential part of the economic plan of the sixth Netanyahu government, the Minister of Finance will implement the deep moves he is planning, such as dismantling food monopolies and lowering import barriers, which will bring real news to the treatment Yesterday we saw him paying a political price and backing a solution that doesn't really match his economic vision (and by the way, not Netanyahu's either, that is - from the days when he still had an economic vision).
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Benjamin Netanyahu
Bezalel Smotrich
economic plan
