This week, Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman presented the state budget to the Finance Committee ahead of the long and arduous discussions that stand in the way of budget approval.
Indeed, an exciting and significant day after many difficult years in which the Israeli economy functions without a government budget, which created very severe damage, especially to social services, welfare, education and municipal services, when many bodies in Israel operated on a budget of one-twelfth.
In presenting the budget, the Minister of Finance said that this is the most social budget ever presented in Israel, no less and no more.
Full of optimism and full of confidence, the Minister presented Israel's economic situation in the midst of the Corona plague, referring to the fact that despite the plague and the global state of economic insecurity, Israel still manages to collect taxes at large rates, and the Israeli economy manages to give impressive economic results.
The State of Israel is actually two states.
One is the developed and sweetened high-tech nation, located between north Tel Aviv and southern Ramat Hasharon.
In this country, Israel knows how to present excellent education, exemplary health and working municipal systems.
In this country it is possible to strengthen buildings with TMA 38, it is possible to travel by public transport that arrives on time, and it is possible to promote alternative energy and enjoy an amazing quality of life as a developed western country offers.
Police is police and governance is governance, and there is almost no crime on the street: you are not shot and there are no drug stations on the street corner where you live.
And there is another Israel. It is located in the rest of the area, and this is Israel, which is a third world country for all intents and purposes. It does not have proper education, its health care system is collapsing, the municipal systems are so overburdened and under-budgeted that they are barely sustainable. The police sometimes do not enter this area because he does not know how they will get out of it. There is no governance, no law and no budget.
The Minister of Finance stated that the most social state budget will also address non-high-tech Israel and claimed that he brings a budget with a line.
If you look at this budget, which stands at NIS 432 billion in 2021 and NIS 452 billion for 2022, you can see that there is no significant answer.
This budget does not address any of the critical issues that concern those who live here in a third world country.
The old and crumbling buildings did not receive a budget or line for renovation or reconstruction.
The food security of Israel's children will not be addressed.
The collapsing health care system has admittedly increased its budget, but only to address Corona and not to improve congested systems.
There is no change at all in the welfare or education budgets.
Even seniors from the USSR, most of whom live in a third world country and are Lieberman's loyal voters, have nothing to rejoice about. In short, there is no line and no social budget.