I think Netanyahu has distanced himself from his own path, as we knew it from the Netanyahu of previous governments. Dubi Amitai, Chairman of the Business Sector Presidency (Photo: Reuven Castro)
A real bear, chairman of the presidency of the business sector, is boiling. Ahead of his remarks at the Eli Hurvitz Conference on Economy and Society (of the Israel Democracy Institute), he summarizes in points the government's mishandling of the economic crisis that the State of Israel has found itself in in recent months, places the responsibility on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and calls on him to "get his hands out of his pockets and start working, immediately."
Amitai chose to begin his speech with Netanyahu's words from 2009, which miraculously sound remarkably accurate even today, 14 years later: "We are in a very big crisis, but we will need, and we can, to rescue the economy, preserve jobs and jumpstart the economy. The economy is like an airplane in a dive. We will stop the fall and after that there will be an upward surge."
"Where is the regulatory authority established in the previous government?" (Photo: Reuven Castro)
"With words and slogans we will get nowhere"
"We're on a slippery slope," he tells Walla, "and Bibi needs to get his hands out of his pockets and start working right away. I hear the Finance Minister talking about ideas, directions, vectors, plans, the passage of the budget and the Arrangements Law, without any growth engine.
My watchword will always and will remain forever - certainty. I'm in a thick smoke screen and I don't see where this ship is going. Centralization is in full swing, everyone is talking about professional training and human capital, and there is nothing in the budget.
"In 2021, the investment in vocational training was NIS 455 million, in 2022, NIS 160 million, this year, in 2023 only 61 million and next year 63 million. Is it an investment in growth engines? And where is the investment in national infrastructure, digitization of the public sector, accelerated depreciation, lowering corporate tax, lowering capital gains tax on the stock exchange, reducing regulation as Netanyahu promised?
"Where is the regulatory authority that was established in the previous government, and was supposed to supervise the regulators with 50 employees? There are maybe ten there, and they, too, ask themselves, what are we doing here? The missing persons unit should be sent to them.
"Netanyahu talked about spinning an airplane, about braking and soaring and creating growth engines, so please, let him bring the business sector and the Histadrut into the room, because the government won't be able to do it alone, and close the package deal in order to create certainty.
He himself said, 'When there is a pilot, actually two pilots, and direction of action, which are critical things, when there are principles that remove a lot of uncertainty. We involve the Histadrut and the employers, and this is a new approach.' Where has this attitude gone?
"The government's policy is the opposite of Netanyahu's in 2009, and he should return to his own values, because we don't have time. The budget and the Arrangements Law not only fail to address the cost of living, they fuel it.
I was shocked by the Finance Ministry's proposals during the discussions on the Arrangements Law, which were completely detached from the recommendations of professional bodies, such as the International Monetary Fund, the Governor and the OECD. Oh we're talking about changing the measurement system of municipal taxes, or abolishing zero VAT on services for tourists, when tourism is a growth engine and a big employment provider, luckily both of them will eventually be outlawed."
So what do we do?
"In pure Hebrew: Bibi go to work, because the business doesn't work. With words and slogans, we won't get anywhere."
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- A real teddy bear
- Business sector
- Israel Democracy Institute
- State budget
