Members of the Business Forum, which is made up of the heads of more than 200 of the largest companies in the economy, sent an urgent message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Sunday, demanding that they take immediate steps to ensure the economic resilience of the home front.
Among the signatories to the unusual demand are Harel Wiesel, CEO and owner of Fox Group, Liora Ofer, Chairman and controlling shareholder of Ofer Investments and Melisron Group, Itzik Avrakhan – Chairman of Shufersal, 9 Haim Gavrieli – Chairman of Tnuva, Hai Galis – CEO of Big Shopping Centers, Eyal Hankin – CEO of Azrieli Group and many others.
Harel Wiesel, CEO of Fox Group, Photo: Yehuda Ben Yattach
The full statement reads:
"We, the members of the Business Forum, which is comprised of the heads of some 200 largest companies in the economy, which together constitute the vast majority of the Israeli economy, call for immediate steps by the government to ensure the economic resilience of the home front – resilience that is a necessary condition for winning the war forced upon us. Although we are already a month into the war, a significant economic plan has not yet been launched to support the economy, especially businesses and households that were damaged. Most of the declarations have not yet become action, and in the meantime, hundreds of businesses are collapsing, as are households. It's time to stop talking and start acting!"
"Creating immediate certainty in the difficult conditions of the war, for businesses large and small, as well as for households, is essential. Any delay in implementing significant steps leads to irreversible damage that will take a long time to rehabilitate, even after the war. This is a time for action, not words. A good but imperfect plan that will be implemented immediately and without unnecessary bureaucracy is preferable to an excellent plan that will take time to implement."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Smotrich, photo: Amit Shabi
"This is the time for a fundamental and immediate change in the budgetary agenda, in order to prevent a long-term economic disaster. All coalition budgets and any other budget unrelated to the conduct of the war and support for the economy should be diverted solely for the purpose of financing the war and strengthening the economy of the home front – businesses and households, with a focus on creating long-term growth."
"In light of this, we call on the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance to announce today the immediate launch of all the frameworks, such as those that were implemented during the coronavirus, as well as the immediate activation of all the grants that the Minister of Finance committed to this morning. We call on the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance to instruct that all subsidies, benefits, state-guaranteed loans and other measures will be implemented immediately, starting today, without bureaucracies or committees or other processes whose damage far exceeds their benefit, certainly at a time when creating certain certainty is the most important goal."
"At the same time, we urge the prime minister and the finance minister to immediately announce the cancellation of all coalition budgets and those unrelated to the war and the diversion of all budgets to prevent irreversible damage to the economy."
As you may recall, last week we published in Israel Hayom that Smotrich is blocking the transfer of more than a billion shekels earmarked to finance the establishment of the Secretariat and hotel stays. On the table of the Finance Committee are two requests for "changes between clauses for 2023," mainly the thawing of coalition funds frozen since the beginning of the war in order to urgently fund the communities in the envelope, the Secretariat, and the financing of hotels.
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