Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich instructed today (Sunday) to cancel the tax on disposable dishes and on sweet drinks that was imposed by his predecessor, Avigdor Lieberman in the outgoing government.
This is Smotrich's first decision in office.
The decision promoted by Lieberman, together with outgoing Minister of Environmental Protection Tamar Zandberg, provoked sharp criticism among the ultra-orthodox public and its representatives in the Knesset.
This is a neutral tax that applies to all layers of the population, on imports and local production based on the weight of the products.
The purpose of the program was to reduce the use of single-use plastic utensils, with the aim of reducing the negative phenomenon - and unique in its scope in Israel - of using single-use plastic utensils and aligning with the practice in other advanced countries in the world that take similar steps.
At the same time, in Israel there is no doubt that the new purchase tax mainly hurt the ultra-Orthodox, a population that uses disposable utensils much more, both for kosher reasons and the suitability of these for both dairy and meat foods, but mainly due to the size of the families in the ultra-Orthodox sector.
Smotrich at the exchange ceremony, today (Photo: Flash 90, Yonatan Zindel)
Zandberg said in response to Smotrich's decision that "the new government is allowing petty politics to destroy the environment and health. Instead of moving forward, this decision is setting us back light years. Except for a finger in the eye, canceling the tax will only contribute to pollution and morbidity. I call on the new Minister of Environmental Protection to strongly oppose this harmful move ".
Smotrich spoke today at the ministerial exchange ceremony at the Ministry of Finance and said that upon entering the Ministry of Finance now, I am committed to one task - Israel's economy and the good of the State of Israel and its citizens.
Minister Avigdor Lieberman and I agree on a great many things.
I am a man of free economy who wants to remove barriers, and perfect the free market and competition as much as possible.
The public sector patrol sits in the Ministry of Finance, and I come here with a lot of humility and a desire to learn in order to promote the State of Israel, strengthen the economy and the state's revenues, and then also locate the populations that need assistance."
Smotrich added that "we are facing a challenging period, of economic events such as inflation and interest rate increases, and I believe that we will overcome it and bring Israel confidence in the financial system and as a result invest Very good and led courageous and forward-looking steps, and I hope to continue it and build my floor, and leave here a stronger Ministry of Finance for the minister who will come after me."
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Bezalel Smotrich
Disposable dishes
Ministry of Finance