Small and independent business organizations will convene an emergency debate in the Knesset demanding that the fourth sabbatical be canceled within a year and a half, including the municipal elections

• Without a sabbatical it will be difficult to find workers in elections // Photo: Oren Ben Hakon

The upcoming elections bring with them another sabbatical, which causes the small and medium businesses to fight for failure. On Wednesday, the leaders of the independent and small business organizations will convene for an emergency debate in the Knesset, demanding the cancellation of the sabbatical that is expected to take place this March. This is the fourth Saturday in the economy in less than a year - the local government election system and 3 general election campaigns.

The conference, chaired by MK Barak (Likud), will present a report prepared by Dr. Ruby Natanzon, economist for the small and independent business organization "Lahav", according to which the damage to small and medium-sized business owners is estimated According to the data, various employers' organizations are united in the idea that the Sabbath day should be canceled in the upcoming elections, in accordance with a bill on the subject recently submitted by MK Mickey Zohar (Likud) and Oded Forer (Israel Betano).

Note that changing the Basic Law requires the support of 61 MKs - a low-feasibility scenario. "Hundreds of thousands of small and medium-sized business owners do not have to pay for politicians' failures," said outgoing Industrial Association President Shraga Brosh earlier this week. Lahav, "he added:" Another sabbatical may even bring about the closure of small businesses in difficulty. "

Election Commission CEO voiced her opposition to abolition of Sabbath day, as she said this step would hurt the ability to recruit polling day workers to the polling committees. In the last election, the election committee's budget increased by about NIS 320 million, and the budget allocated for the upcoming elections will rise About 50% compared to the previous elections, and will stand at NIS 240 million, about NIS 2 million per mandate.

Shmuel Vazana, CEO of Poliphone's campaign management campaign, says the election mechanism cannot exist without a sabbatical. "Most workers on Election Day are paid employees, and unless there is a sabbatical - the Election Commission and parties will find it difficult to find more employees for this day." He said the number of workers on election day was estimated at 100,000. "The double payment should also be left, because if they pay the election workers like a regular work day, they will have trouble recruiting," Vazana concludes.