"Why don't my children want to continue living in Israel? I am the fourth generation in Israel, I fought in all the wars. Why do many young people want to leave our country? We are divided among the people. Maybe some of the things the government wants to do are right, but the way is the wrong way, and it harms society, the economy, and our battle spirit as the State of Israel," says Dubi Amitai, chairman of the business sector presidency and president of the Farmers' Association, who was a guest on Israel Hayom's weekly economic podcast "Added Value."
"I'm still a reservist, I know the threats we have, in order to win them it's not enough to bring in an F-35, but you need a strong company and a strong economy. We don't have the privilege of allowing ourselves to be divided," he warns.
"I say to the government: you have been confused."
Amitai is concerned about the impact of the uncertainty surrounding the legal reform on the business sector, saying: "We are in a very high inflationary period and the interest rate is very high. The uncertainty causes a large part of the business sector not to enter into new investments and look for new places. I hear about businesses going out of this country, and I don't like it. I say to the government: You have been confused. You have to take responsibility, you have to do things in full agreement."
Real Bear, Photo: Chen Galili
Amitai Shabb says that fateful and substantive decisions, as he puts it, must be reached by broad agreement and calls on the parties to return to talks at the president's residence. "You can't make a snatch. Haste is from the devil. It's not worth hurrying, it's worth reaching agreements so that our grandchildren, our sons too, will want to stay here."
On the shutdown of the economy by the Histadrut, to which he was a full partner together with Histadrut Chairman Arnon Bar-David, he said: "After the aggressive dismissal of the defense minister, we decided to shut down the economy. That warning shot signaled the government to stop. What happens now? Both Arnon and I are following what is happening with concern. I call on both sides, both the coalition and the opposition, to sit down, hold the talks and try to reach agreements. It is my responsibility as the head of the business sector to come and warn about what the effects may be on the business sector, and there are negative effects, and that no one will try to obscure it."
"Take care of the rest of the carriages"
According to Amitai, "Behind the high-tech locomotive, there are also a lot of wagons, and the rest of the cars, such as industry, tourism, agriculture, and small businesses, are low-productivity wagons and are not thought of in the new budget. We think it's wrong to deal only with the locomotive, but also with the cars that pull the locomotive down."
On the question of what needs to be in the budget for the business sector, Amitai listed three main things: lowering the corporate tax from 23% to 18% gradually, lowering the capital gains tax on the stock exchange in a gradual process, and accelerated depreciation.
Is the government doing enough to ease the wave of price increases for citizens?
"Freezing the inflation generators has not been done. Opposite. Water goes up, municipal taxes go up, electricity goes up. The price of gasoline has been halted, but the excise tax is still high. I'm willing to compromise on stopping the inflation generators, but I'm not willing to compromise on the fact that today we are not preparing the next stage, which is growth. Personally, I believe in the prime minister's abilities, he knows exactly what the right tools are that need to be done. Unfortunately, that's not happening."
Why?
"Great question. The government is currently dealing with things that are less relevant to the economic aspect, they are busy with other things. I think that's a big mistake. Instead of dealing with curbing the cost of living, instead of dealing with accelerating business in the State of Israel and growth, I have not seen correct actions in the past six months since the government was established."
No longer a trivial matter. Shopping at the supermarket, photo: Dudu Greenspan (archive)
"The weaker layers prefer to buy pasta"
Amitai also addressed the high prices of fruits and vegetables in Israel and gave examples of the prices he receives as a farmer.
"I get 3.42 shekels per kilogram of apples for a kilogram of apples, 3.32 shekels for plums, 4.85 shekels for peaches, and you buy them for 15-17 shekels, for white nectarine I get 3.94 shekels per kilogram, you buy for 15 shekels. I got 5 shekels per kilogram for avocado, which you bought for more than 20 shekels," Amitai explains.
"I say that even the weaker sectors deserve to receive a healthy food basket, and unfortunately that's not the case today, they don't allow themselves neither fruits nor vegetables, and that saddens me and hurts, because I see how much my friends and I get and that this fresh produce doesn't reach the weaker sectors and they prefer to take the pasta."
"The Chinese are already waiting for us to stop growing garlic"
Amitai has a full stomach for the decisions made by the previous government on agricultural reform. "The one leading the entire agricultural concept in Israel today is not the Ministry of Agriculture, but the Finance Boys. I know them well, they are amazing people, salt of the earth. But when they sit there and come from academia, bachelor's and master's degrees, and don't know the terrain and the meanings, their decision-making process is lacking."
"Two years ago, together with the previous agriculture minister, they decided to lower the tariff on the price of garlic, so the result is that in 2021 we had 10,2022 dunams of garlic, in 1500 we dropped to <>. And what do we see in terms of prices? The price of imported garlic has dropped slightly, the price of Israeli garlic is much cheaper, but the amount of dunams is falling. Next year, Israeli growers won't grow garlic, and the Chinese are already waiting for this moment, and they will raise the price of garlic. And if you look at the nutritional ingredients in Chinese garlic versus Israeli garlic, you see that we're being sold something less tasty and less healthy."
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