Economy Minister Nir Barkat and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich issued a statement on Thursday with almost identical wording, a few minutes apart. Both announcements referred to the second discussion of the Cost of Living Cabinet, which ended a short time ago at the Prime Minister's Office.
A statement issued by the Minister of Economy claimed that he was the one who presented the new law that he formulated together with the professional echelon in the Ministry of Economy to open the import gates to Israel: "The Free Import Law to Israel" - what is good and permissible in Europe is good and permissible for Israel. The Finance Minister's announcement stated that it was actually Minister Smotrich who presented a proposal for first steps in combating the cost of living and lowering import barriers, according to which within 45 days a government decision will be submitted to the Ministerial Committee for approval that includes principles for a law that solves import problems on the basis of "what is good for Europe is good for Israel" in both direct and parallel imports.
The Cost of Living Committee, Photo: Amos Ben Gershom/GPO
One thing is clear: the bill entitled "What is good for Europe is good for Israel" has many chances of passing, if the two senior ministers in the government are pushing so hard for its passage. One can only hope that they will join forces in the fight to lower the cost of living and not wage a battle for the credits. The Prime Minister's Office, which presided over the meeting of the Cost of Living Cabinet, has not yet issued an orderly announcement.
Netanyahu: "Theprices here are higher than in Europe, there is no justification for this"
The Ministerial Committee to Combat the Cost of Living, headed by Prime Minister Netanyahu, met today at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem. The discussion included a report by Carrefour Israel CEO Uri Kilstein on the barriers to introducing competition into the Israeli market.
"We are doing something here that has not been done in Israel": Netanyahu at the Ministerial Committee to Combat the Cost of Living // Photo: Omer Meron / GPO
At the end of the discussion, the Prime Minister said: "I would like to thank the Ministry of Finance, Economy, Health and Religions. We are doing something here that has not been done in Israel – not in this way, not on this scale and not with this intensity. We want to help families make ends meet, we need to lower the prices of most of the products sold in Israel - the prices here are higher than in Europe and there is no justification for this.
The reason is a multiplicity of regulation, a multiplicity of regulations, a multiplicity of bureaucracy – all these cause prices to rise, and we want to lower that. We intend to abolish much of the regulation. In effect, to establish a rule – what is good in Europe – is good in Israel, except for what we exclude."
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