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From the light rail to the prices of fruits and vegetables: all the reforms approved in the new budget

At the end of a marathon of nightly discussions, the ministers reached an agreement on a budget for 2022-2021, which includes a series of reforms that will affect our pockets.

Among the dramatic measures approved: raising the retirement age for women, a congestion tax on entering the Dan Bloc, a tax on sugary drinks and a huge reform in the agriculture industry that is drawing enormous opposition

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• Corona virus

• State budget

Sonia Gorodiski and his Tal

Monday, 02 August 2021, 11:28

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The government this morning (Monday) approved a series of far-reaching reforms in the state budget for the years 2022-2021.

At this stage, the Ministry of Finance has not yet published the final numbers that will be assigned to each ministry, and according to sources in the Ministry of Finance, they will be published in the coming days.

Notable reforms will include raising the retirement age for women, reforming public transportation in the Dan Bloc and congestion charges, enacting the Metro Law, the environment, taxing hybrids on disposable utensils, and sugary drinks.

The reform in agriculture is very comprehensive, both in eggs and in fruits and vegetables, lowering the tariffs while compensating farmers also with direct support and development budgets for the purpose of improving and streamlining farmers' investments.

These are all the reforms.

More on Walla!

After more than three years: The government approved the state budget

To the full article

Bennett and Lieberman at the cabinet meeting this morning (Photo: Government Press Office, Amos Ben Gershom)

• Raising the retirement age for women

  The retirement age for women in Israel is one of the lowest in the world (62 compared to an average of 65.8 in OECD countries), and Israel is one of the few countries where there is a gap between the retirement age for women and that of men. The current retirement age for women does not correspond to the significant increase in life expectancy and the ongoing process of aging of the population in Israel. In particular, the low retirement age for women adversely affects the employment rates of older women and their position in the labor market, leading to impairment of their ability to maintain an adequate standard of living during retirement. At the same time, without raising the retirement age for women, the aging of the population will lead to a dramatic increase in the state's old-age benefits and health care payments, which could hurt Social Security stability.

  
  
  

  In view of all these reasons, the retirement age for women will be gradually raised, and alongside it will be promoted many measures aimed at reducing the impact of raising the age on older women approaching retirement age along with measures to encourage adult employment.

  The retirement age for women will increase gradually, over 11 years, until the age of 65 (4 months a year for three years and 3 months a year for another 8 years).

  
  
  

  The move will be accompanied by a basket of complementary tools to assist older women - extending the period of entitlement to unemployment benefits for women leaving the labor market at older ages to 12 months, increasing the work grant for working women, a dedicated budget for vocational training and scholarships for women.

  In addition, the amount of income that recipients of a senior citizen's pension are allowed to earn without offsetting the old-age pension will increase significantly, so that even old-age pension recipients whose salary is higher than NIS 6,000 can receive a full old-age pension.

• Opening of the agriculture industry

  The reform in agriculture includes the opening of the agriculture industry to imports and beyond to direct support and capital investments in farmers that will lead to the technological leap of the industry.

  As part of the reform, tariffs on the egg and plant industries will be reduced, while adopting European regulation on plant protection.

  The reform is expected to reduce the cost of living in food, increase the variety of fruits and vegetables available to the consumer, as well as the availability of seasonal fruits throughout the year.

  
  
  

  ▪️- In order to improve growth and productivity by reducing the excess regulatory burden on businesses and promoting smart regulation, enact the Regulatory Fundamental Law, which will establish long-term infrastructure for formulating regulation in Israel and establishing a regulatory authority that will oversee new regulatory processes.

• Optimizing the training system

  A horizontal plan to open a training market to competition in order to reduce the cost of living and the scope of private expenditure on food consumption in Israel.

  This step will lead to a direct reduction in the volume of spending by consumers of services and kosher products in Israel on food, amounting to hundreds of millions of shekels per year.

  
  

  This step will lead to the abolition of the current monopoly and create competition that will lead both to the direct discounting of the product and to the improvement of the service provided to the kosher businesses in Israel.

  Under the program, the authority to issue kosher certificates in Israel will be transferred to private bodies for all businesses, and without restriction, compared to the current situation in which local rabbis have the exclusive authority to issue kosher certificates.

  The private training bodies will receive an operating license and after receiving this approval, will operate freely throughout the country.

  The program will bring millions of kosher consumers in the State of Israel, from all streams, religious, ultra-Orthodox, traditional and secular, to kosher consumers and allow everyone to consume a kosher product according to their worldview and at a lower price.

• A plan to improve regulation

  In order to improve growth and productivity by reducing the excess regulatory burden on businesses and promoting smart regulation, enact the Regulatory Fundamental Law, which will establish long-term infrastructure for formulating regulation in Israel and establishing a regulatory authority that will oversee new regulatory processes and work to reduce the regulatory burden.

  The law will establish principles for optimal regulation, including risk management, based on international standards, promoting a competitive economy, reducing the cost of living, and regulation adapted to small and medium-sized businesses.

  Under the plan, assistance will be provided in the immediate term of temporary burden relief, including restraint of new regulation in order to create certainty for businesses when emerging from the crisis and allow them to focus on business development, and defer investment in regulatory requirements.

  The plan is expected to make it easier for the business sector to emerge from the corona crisis and bring about a growth in GDP per capita of about 6% within a decade, worth about NIS 75 billion.

• Acceleration of the metro project

  As part of the start-up of the project, approval will be given in principle to promote the metro project, a project that will enable the acceleration of economic and urban development in the Dan Bloc, by providing a transportation solution to the needs of the area's residents.

  
  
  

  In addition, a dedicated legal framework will be created that will enable the promotion of the project in the schedule required for the economy and will include, among other things: project prioritization and national assessments by all ministries and government authorities, removal of planning and licensing barriers, streamlining access to land, regulating infrastructure coordination processes with infrastructure companies and authorities , Streamlining the committee for resolving disputes between infrastructure bodies, directing to promote dedicated regulatory arrangements for the project, and additional steps.

• Opening of competition in banking

  One of the significant barriers to increasing competition in the banking system in particular, and the financial one in general, is the monopoly held by financial entities over customers' financial information. The new law will require various financial entities to transfer customer information to innovative technological entities, with the consent of the customers. The new entities will be able to show clients what financial services they consume, how much exactly they are paying for them, how much they can save if they switch to another provider and actually become their own objective personal digital financial advisor. In fact, it is a kind of "banking ZAP" that will strengthen customers vis-à-vis financial entities, promote the entry of advanced technological financial entities (fintechs) into the market, increase competition in the banking system and reduce household and small business expenses in the banking system. This is a first step in promoting the open banking reform in Israel, which completes a critical piece in the puzzle to increase competition, along with many steps promoted in recent years by the Ministry of Finance together with the Bank of Israel.These include removing barriers to the entry of new players into the financial system that have led, among other things, to the establishment of a new digital bank, the interbank mobility reform ("click-through") and the establishment of a credit database.

• Public transportation fees

  The purpose of the decision is for the first time in Israel to bring about the desired revolution and join the advanced countries in the world which make public transportation a priority.

  
  

  Against the background of the worsening transportation crisis and in particular in Gush Dan and with the aim of reducing traffic congestion, starting in 2024, a fee will be charged for entering Gush Dan during congestion hours. The plan will set for those who choose to travel in a private vehicle during hours and congestion areas a more accurate price of the trip while internalizing external costs that include loss of time, air pollution and road accidents. In this way the use of the road resource is expected to become more efficient and allow more passengers to enter the congested areas during peak hours and hundreds of thousands of people the opportunity to reach the employment centers in a few minutes. The expected revenue from the payment that passengers will pay in the private car will fund an unprecedented five-year plan of about NIS 2.7 billion. . The expected increase in public transportation will lead to an improvement in the quality of travel, an acceleration of travel speed and an increase in the frequency of lines.These improvements are expected to bring new audiences to use public transportation, contribute to the well-being of all road users and increase the product estimated at billions of shekels in the next decade.

• Adoption of the employment report and improvement of vocational training

  In accordance with the recommendations of the Employment Committee for 2030 and in order to increase the employment rate and labor productivity, it is proposed to set government employment targets for 2030 for low-participation populations, and to reform the vocational training system so that the training is higher quality. For the needs of the economy.

• A program for managerial flexibility in education

  The Ministries of Education and Finance are promoting a program to increase flexibility and transfer powers to school principals, who are familiar with the student and his or her unique needs.

  The powers will be coordinated on three levels: in the budgetary, pedagogical level and in relation to the organization of studies.

  The Ministry of Education will adjust the powers to principals according to the characteristics of the school, while measuring outputs and adjusting responses.

  The plan will be implemented gradually, so that within four years it will apply nationwide.

  The program joins the main global trend in the world of education in recent years, and is expected to bring the education system in Israel to be a leader, advanced and tailored to the needs of each and every student.

• Conversion of offices to residences

  Conversion of up to 50% of the employment areas located near residential neighborhoods to small apartments, so that thousands of housing units will be added to the market each year for the preservation of a young population and the elderly.

  This is due to the need to increase the supply of housing, especially in the heart of demand areas.

• Police reforms

  The budget includes an additional 1,100 manpower standards for the Israel Police, the establishment of two economic parties to deal with the phenomenon of extortion of sponsorship fees and economic crime, the thickening of police stations and police points in Arab localities, including the Bedouin diaspora, the expansion of the municipal policing project. , With an emphasis on mixed cities.

• Business Registration

  Establishment of an organizing committee for business licensing, which will be authorized to change the requirements in the licenses.

  The committee will work to reduce the costs of licensing requirements, shorten procedures, and focus them in accordance with international standards.

  This is to change the current licensing process, which charges businesses high costs and takes a long time, thus harming the overall economic activity of the economy.

• Cannabis exports

  Promoting medical cannabis companies to expand export opportunities, in favor of developing the cannabis industry in Israel.

  This, after an inter-ministerial team that examined the issue found that Israel has a significant advantage over competing countries in terms of the level of knowledge and regulation of the field, which can help make Israeli products world leaders.

• Digitization of government ministries

  In the last decade, the government has set itself the goal of promoting, improving and assimilating the digital revolution in government and public sector work, as well as encouraging and assisting citizens and businesses to make use of information technology benefits to improve services to citizens and businesses and streamline government work. Therefore, in order to improve the work of the government and to provide quality digital services to citizens, it is proposed to act in several key axes in the field of digitization and government IT:

  
  
  

  1. Adapting legislation to the digital age - registration of citizens and corporations Only to the extent that they know how to make use of the digital address and choose it. The move is expected to streamline government work and save the taxpayer up to NIS 200 million a year, and reduce bureaucracy for citizens and businesses (eliminating the need to go to post offices to collect registered mail).

  
  
  

  2. Accelerating the government's transition to the public cloud - Accelerating the government's transition to a public digital cloud based on the "Nimbus" tender (won by Amazon and Google).

  The transition will be accelerated by establishing a government strategy that will lead to the development of new systems and the transfer of existing systems to the public cloud by other standards, while determining the funding mechanism for the benefit of the issue.

• Fire regulations

  The Fire and Rescue Authority sets fire safety requirements for hundreds of thousands of properties in the State of Israel.

  Safety requirements focus on a number of main areas: licensed businesses (licensed businesses), non-licensed properties (schools, hospitals, office buildings, IDF bases, state infrastructure, etc.) and residential buildings. Today, regulation is determined by provisions. A commissioner issued by the Fire Authority, as well as the enforcement of the regulation and the appeal of the regulation, is made by the Fire Authority. In Israel.

• Beyond green energy

  The Ministry of Finance will promote a series of regulatory easing and removal of barriers to the promotion of clean energy through efficient and green electricity generation and the transition to electric transportation.

  The decision determined, among other things:

  
  
  

  1. Removal of barriers to renewable energy: creation of a mechanism that will enable the construction of solar facilities in dual use (agro-voltaic) with extensive agriculture, as well as the creation of a planning route that will allow the establishment of storage facilities nationwide and in a short process.

  
  
  

  2. Preparation of infrastructure for the transition to electric transportation: Each tenant in a common building will be allowed to install infrastructure for the purpose of setting up a charging station for an electric vehicle, without the need for the consent of the other tenants.

  Charging each new building with the laying of the basic infrastructure required for the installation of charging stations for electric vehicles.

  
  
  

  3. Energy efficiency in government ministries: streamlining energy consumption in government, establishing renewable energy and storing in government ministries.

  Beyond electric transportation in government offices.

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