The Forum of Economists on Sunday joined the warnings of senior Finance Ministry officials, warning that the money transfers as part of the coalition agreements, as reflected in the upcoming budget coming up for a vote this week, "are expected to cause significant and long-term damage to Israel's economy and its future as a prosperous country."
The letter was signed by nearly 200 economists, saying, among other things: "We, lecturers in the fields of economics and management, join the warnings of senior Finance Ministry officials and warn that the money transfers as part of the coalition agreements, as reflected in the upcoming budget that is coming up for a vote this week, are expected to cause significant and long-term damage to Israel's economy and its future as a prosperous country.
"This is due to the unprecedented increase in the allocation of resources to non-official Haredi educational institutions, without stipulation on supervision and full core studies, and due to increased financial support for Avrachim and the provision of food stamps through channels outside the regular welfare system, without passing an employment test. These measures will prevent Haredi children from acquiring basic skills essential for their integration as adults into the labor market in an advanced economy, and will reduce the incentive for Haredi adults to integrate into this market.
The lack of integration of the ultra-Orthodox into the labor market is expected to cost the state about NIS 6.7 trillion by 2060 (the subjects have no connection to the article), Photo: Mati Shochat
"Already, almost a quarter of children under school age are born to Haredi families, and this proportion is expected to double by 2050. There is a consensus among Israeli economists that the ability of these children to integrate into the labor market in the future, earn a decent living, and pay taxes is a crucial issue regarding the future of the Israeli economy.
"The study clearly shows that children who do not take full-time core curriculum find it very difficult to overcome this as adults. The government is supposed to significantly upgrade the Israeli education system as a whole, including the ultra-Orthodox education system. To enable integration into the labor market, children need to receive an education that allows it, and adults need to be incentivized to do so. Unfortunately, the Israeli government not only does not deal with this painful issue, but also chooses measures that exacerbate the problem and plunge the future of Israel's economy into the Third World.
"The harm to the Haredi public's ability to integrate into a modern labor market will, first and foremost, harm the economic situation of the Haredi public itself, reduce the chances of Haredi adults earning a decent living, and increase the poverty rate among the Haredi population.
"It's not just the ultra-Orthodox population that will be affected." (Illustration Cost of Living), Photo: Ami Shumen
"But it is not only the ultra-Orthodox population that will be harmed: when a significant percentage of Israeli children do not acquire basic skills, it is self-evident that the State of Israel will not be able to continue to be among the world's developed economies. In particular, the Ministry of Finance predicts that Israel's economy will lose close to NIS 6.7 trillion by 2060 due to the increase in the share of the population lacking basic skills and having difficulty integrating into a modern labor market. The socioeconomic price will be reflected not only in the loss of GDP, but also in the fact that the economy will find it difficult to provide Israeli residents with health, education, transportation, and welfare services at the level of an advanced economy.
"Worse, the current trend whereby the share of Haredim in the population doubles every 25 years, when Haredi children do not acquire basic skills essential for integration into a modern labor market, poses an existential threat to Israel's future, because only advanced countries can finance military technologies necessary to protect their residents from threats on the future battlefield.
"The Israeli government must come to its senses and reconsider the allocation of coalition funds that are now provided for short-term political considerations, but will transform Israel in the long run from an advanced and prosperous country to a backward country in which a large part of the population lacks basic skills for life in the twenty-first century."
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