Bennett?
"Give me one monopoly he dismantled" • Rat?
"All my life I've been fighting tycoons, how can I sit with him?"
• Assault and torch?
"They will not be able to form a government without me" • Despite the shuffle in the polls, Yaron Zelicha wants to be the next finance minister, and is building on 8 seats • "If there had not been an economic crisis I would not have come"
"30% of the public want me as finance minister, and public trust is the most important asset."
Zelicha in the Hatikva market
Photography:
Joshua Joseph
Almost every class has one, that the environment does not know how to eat. The same one who travels against the direction of movement with confidence and speed, despite the warnings around him that not joining a group will lead him to self-destruction. Exactly this guy, who is followed by waves of fans or smuggles suspects. In the future, of course, the riddle will be revealed - is this a future leader or a contemporary rebel? Such is the new player in the political arena - Prof. Yaron Zelicha.
If there is one thing that sets him apart as a player when he enters the political and complex chessboard in Israel, in front of the other party leaders, it is that he does not aspire to be a future prime minister. Zelicha, the Accountant General of the Ministry of Finance during Netanyahu's period between 2003 and 2008 and who is currently going against him and his economic policy, has one precise goal: to be appointed Minister of Finance in the 24th Knesset, stabilize the Israeli economy after the Corona crisis, and return to business.
"If we were not in an economic crisis I would not have come. I want to put the Israeli economy in first place after the Corona crisis. I have no interest in a political career. Politics is an order 8 for me. We are in the worst economic war in our history and I come to be its chief of staff, concludes Zelicha declares in a special interview with "Israel Hashavua".
Dismantling and restraining
Zelicha's openness is one of the most refreshing things in Israeli politics. His self-confidence is based, among other things, on being the most recycled economic professional in the current election campaign. Along with the health crisis, stabilizing the economy. Despite tempting proposals in the political system, he chose to form an independent party and not "succumb to pressure," by definition.
He does not weigh words and shoot his thoughts. "I have nothing to lose," he explains. From statements that they can lose their place.
I am?
Interesting my grandmother.
Not enjoying the run of an election campaign and also in the end I will go anyway.
I do not aspire to be prime minister, so Yair Lapid and Gideon Saar should not be afraid of me, because I am not going to replace them.
Not that I'm less good than them. "That we
opened on the beginning about your caution against Torch and Saar?
" I admit I make
Torch and
Gideon assumptions.
I have known Saar since the age of 16 from the activities of Tzomet Youth, and I like Lapid on a personal level.
Unlike Benny Gantz, I do not think he hates people. "
Lovely. And an answer Tacheles? What process do you plan them?
" It is clear that both together should lead the next government, could be in the rotation.
I would love to collaborate with both.
Lapid and Saar will not be able to form a government without me and I will be the tongue in cheek.
Like my friend Yvette, who got the defense portfolio with 5 seats.
I will get the finance portfolio but with 8 seats. "
How did we get to 8 seats and the distribution of portfolios to a party that has not yet passed the blocking percentage in the polls?
" Not everyone knows me anymore, but there are two months and they will know, then we will continue to rise to 8-8 seats.
That's the potential.
I'm just on the verge of blocking even before I start introducing myself. "
And what will you present in these two months?
" All the moves I plan to make when I become finance minister.
On the first day I am Minister of Finance the VAT goes down from 17% to 15%. How will we finance it? With the repeal of the Capital Investment Encouragement Law and tax benefits for a handful of big companies and tycoons. I am going to address the terrible problem of budgetary pensions. That you know how to invest it in the appropriate infrastructure of society, the environment and public transportation. "
This week we revealed in "Israel Today" that Prof. Zelicha's economic party will be led by four professors at the top of the list.
Among his new partners: In second place will be Prof. Osnat Akirav - Head of the Department of Political Science at the Western Galilee Academic College, an expert in the study of parliaments and relations between authorities.
In third place is psychiatrist and brain researcher Prof. Yoram Yuval, who is also known as a media man and one of the prominent voices in the protest against the prime minister.
In fourth place is Prof. Elian Alkrinawi, from the Bedouin sector, former president of Achva College, who joins in order to serve as a voice for all the excluded populations in Israel.
Also on the list are Col. (Res.) Itzik Turgeman, winner of the Israel Security Award, and Tzipi Manheimer, an ultra-Orthodox woman who grew up in Gur Hasidism and promotes maintaining faith alongside core studies and integration in the employment market.
"Freeing the middle class"
Prof. Zelicha smiles Politics is part of the 50-year-old crisis, which was celebrated last July. "There is no doubt that a round age is nonsense that makes you stop and think.
I felt that before I became very old I needed to do something more meaningful, and for me it was to take responsibility for the environment.
I have always been dominant in my environment.
At the age of 26, I was the economic adviser in the Prime Minister's Office.
The concluding sentence from Netanyahu at our first meeting was' I do not care that you are a child, the main thing is that you know economics.
And if it turns out you do not really know, I'll kick you.
He was very kind at that meeting. "
He said he had two wonderful years in the prime minister's office under Netanyahu in 1996, and an excellent relationship with then-Prime Minister Avigdor Lieberman." As long as Yvette was there, I could manage.
He guarded me.
My big problem was that Netanyahu appreciated me, but everyone around him wanted to eliminate me.
When Yvette left, I became difficult and tired of being a consultant. "
How are you different from all the knights of the economy who promised to take Israel out of a huge deficit and take care of the middle class?
" I have macroeconomic knowledge, experience in policy management and courage to change.
There are some other economics professors who have macroeconomic knowledge, but do not have the experience.
There are some with experience but they do not have the courage and there are those with courage but without proper experience.
I felt it was unfair to continue to stand aside. "
In a round with him in the rain at the Hatikva market, which is close to his party's headquarters in Tel Aviv, the reactions are divided into two:" We will vote for you "or" Only Bibi. "He smiles at both reactions. To the public eye as a politician.
Zelicha is married to Dr. Orly Zelicha, a senior researcher at the National Center for Disease Control at the Ministry of Health, and a father of three, a resident of Ramat Gan who grew up in the city, a sandwich boy between two brothers, and a co-worker.
He had no classes as a child, and made his first trip abroad only at the age of 25. From a young age, Zelicha realized that in order to achieve financial independence he would have to rely solely on himself.
He spent long hours every day in the neighborhood library in Ramat Gan until it closed. To this day, he maintains a half-hour reading before bed, even as he launches the campaign, from history to ancient art.
“There is nothing I hate more than being dependent.
From a young age I always knew how to do everything on my own and studied economics and accounting.
Economy to know what affects the wealth and well-being of many publics and where to invest.
Accounting, so that I can make a lot of money and be independent. "
We recently published in Israel Today your commitment that despite the pressures, you will not join any party ahead of the submission of the lists on February 4.
How much is your decision related to that desire?
"One of the things that characterizes me is that I do not like to be dependent. I have my own path, my compass, my values and my way. To realize them I owe independence and independent political power. The King's way is complete independence. Second, I speak of disintegration and restraint. The strongest factors in the economy. It limits me in terms of potential partners. Naftali Bennett was Netanyahu's Minister of Economy, can you point me to one monopoly he dismantled?
"Ron Huldai, all my life I have fought tycoons, their tax benefits and privileges, and he connects them.
So how do I sit with him?
Will he not interfere with the implementation of my financial plan?
Although my father Nissenkorn is next to him and I like and appreciate him. "
What do you think about blue and white, Labor and Meretz?
" The Labor Party has ended its historic role.
What they did in the last election, just like Ganz, is an unparalleled disgrace.
Blue and white took the voices of people who put their trust in them and passed them on to a person with three indictments.
Their whole campaign was on this subject.
This is a more serious blow to the Israeli electorate and democracy than Bibi did.
In my opinion, they are much worse than Netanyahu, which is why I refused to meet with Ganz.
"Meretz is too extreme a party for me. As long as there was Zehava Gal-On, who was a loyal partner in the struggle against concentration and lack of competition in the gas monopoly, then I could ignore the extremism on the political side. As for the blue and white party, it needs to understand one thing. The most important thing of the finance minister is trust in his financial abilities to carry out his plans. Without public trust, it is impossible to pass an economic plan. According to a study I did, 30% of the public want me as finance minister, and because trust is the most important asset, a finance minister who does not gain public trust will not succeed ".
Returning to Gideon Saar and Lair Lapid.
"Yes, go ahead. Gideon Saar. He embraces the ultra-Orthodox in an independent alliance and he depends on them. I want to connect the ultra-Orthodox and the Arabs in the Israeli economy, but it does not contradict that Israel is unable to fund such generous child benefits without limit. Even 4 children is generous 18. Children in the family? Wonderful, this is a mitzvah. But it can not be funded by the collapsing taxpayer. Lapid as finance minister continued Yuval Steinitz's policy. He raised VAT contrary to his commitment to the voter and used the money to extend tax benefits to tycoons.
I'm sure he regrets it.
I am here to do the opposite - to abolish the tax benefits for the big companies and the tycoons. "
What will happen to the ego in the center-left?
" I call on Ganz, Ya'alon and send to retire from the race so as not to waste votes.
They do not bring any relevant news, knowledge or ability. "
Please define yourself on the political map.
" A little to the right of the center.
Not Saar and Bennett, but not Lapid either.
Moderate right, but neither Miri Regev nor Smutrich.
Let's start with who is not my audience.
The top mayon will not be my partner.
Mr. Netanyahu's devout followers, who, even if they raise housing prices to 300 salaries per apartment, will continue to vote for him.
It does not crowd my fans, in spite of my economic policy will bring relief for them. "
Your thesis in the series" silver platter ", which dealt with the state social and economic developments in 2015, was that the economy is about to crash. It did not happen, at least not before the corona.
" Well, not I was right?
In 2007, when I finished my term in the Treasury, in the face of the eve of the corona, Israel's GDP per capita at the same prices was 62% of the United States. How much is it on the eve of the corona? 52%!
On the day I left the Treasury, housing prices completed a decline over my tenure from 96 salaries to pay for an apartment to 81 salaries.
How many salaries are there today?
150!
When I left the Treasury, the average Israeli couple worked 36 hours a year on average less than an American couple.
Today we are 146 hours on average more.
Explain to me, in which country does each family increase employment and decrease income?
Where do you want to go, for 200 salaries per apartment?
If it's not a deterioration, I do not know what a deterioration is.
"20% of businesses in Israel have died, and Bibi was not vaccinated. Show me one country that is in this situation, you will not find one. Hundreds of thousands of jobs lost, how many years will it take us to produce them? During the social protest, prices in Israel were 42% higher than the global price index. "Today we are 68% more. So where else do you want to go?"
Doesn't the branding of an "economic" party complicate you as a niche party?
"My audience is the middle class of the citizens and the business. The middle class has been finding itself for too many years, that every leper and snout passes by it, where it bites and goes. I will free the middle class from the bites, because I'm tired. I know all the robbers by their first name. And knows how to take care of them one by one. "
