Against the background of the price increases: Minister of Economy and Industry Nir Barkat asks Competition Commissioner Michal Cohen to step down. The impeachment attempt is taking place in the shadow of rising prices and interest rates.
In his statement, the minister said that "the move comes after about 5 months in which Minister Barkat examined the functioning of the Authority," and that after this examination he reached the conclusion that "the Competition Authority is a weak link in everything related to the struggle to increase competition, the war on monopolies, market failures, cartelism and centralization."
Adv. Michal Cohen, who is in charge of the competition, photo: Oren Ben Hakon
The minister concludes his letter with a demand that the commissioner resign from her position due to the "deep mistrust created between the two," following what he described as her refusal to implement the minister's policy and "in light of the failures in functioning," according to the statement.
Shelves in the supermarket (archive), photo: Herzi Shapira
Earlier this week, the Economy Ministry demanded, in a precedent-setting move, that 15 giant companies in the food market disclose their financial statements, detail production costs and disclose their profit figures within 21 days. Among the companies required to do so were: Diplomat, Unilever, Osem, Shestowitz, Sugat, Hogla Kimberly, Central Beverage Company, Strauss, Willy Food, Sano, Jafora Tavori, Vysotsky Tea, Neto Trade, Abbott and Guri.
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