Confrontation in the Knesset Plenum between Ben Gabir and Arab MKs/Knesset Channel
The person behind the "sweet potato crisis" that delayed the approval of the budget is Guy David - known as "Mr. Sweet Potato".
David serves as the chairman of the Sweet Potato Growers Association, or in its official name - the Sweet Potato Growers Table in the Plant Council.
David, a fourth generation sweet potato grower, has been fighting for more than a year with the state to cover the losses suffered by the industry following the Corona crisis, and so far he has not been able to achieve any results. Finance Committee Twice stipulated that they should be compensated - but the Treasury refused. David, a member of the Likud Center, took advantage of the last line in the budget to apply pressure through the Minister of Agriculture, Avi Dichter, and the Chairman of the Economic Committee, David Bitan.
Now, it seems that the threat placed on the table has borne fruit, after Minister Dichter announced that he would support the budget following a conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"The Prime Minister responded to the demand of Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter and pledged to solve the crisis in the agriculture budget by Passover," the minister's office announced.
Later, the budget was indeed passed by a majority of 62 MKs.
David responded after the budget was passed: "It seems that after a persistent and long struggle, the sweet potato growers who suffered huge losses as a result of the corona will get what they deserve.
I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart the Minister of Agriculture Dichter and the Director General of the Ministry for the close assistance, and of course to all my fellow growers who expressed their trust and chose me to represent them."
Will he get what he wants?
Dichter with Netanyahu/Reuven Castro
took advantage of the last straight.
"Mr. Sweet Potato", Guy David/Official website, Ikki Maimon, Photo Dino
Since the morning, the MKs have been debating the 2024 supplementary budget bill and accompanying bills in preparation for their approval in the second and third readings, in the shadow of the war in Gaza, and the security tensions in the north. At the end of the summaries and votes phase, the budget was passed by a majority of 62 MKs, compared to 55 who opposed.
The first proposal voted on by the members of the Knesset is an additional budget bill, according to which the government spending limit for 2024 will be NIS 584.1 billion following the war expenses, the spending limit budget is about NIS 70.4 billion higher than the budget approved in May 2023: NIS 55 billion to finance military needs, and -15.5 billion shekels to finance civil needs.
The second proposal we discussed is to increase the deficit target in 2024 to 6.6% of GDP instead of 2.25%, as approved in May 2023. The difference in the deficit targets amounts to approximately NIS 70 billion, and is intended to finance the additional expenses required as a result of the war.
The current budget has been criticized Harifa due to the work that includes about 5.5 billion shekels of coalition funds - of which more than a billion shekels for meetings and includes, about 300 million shekels for settlements and about 600 million shekels for ultra-Orthodox private educational institutions. In addition, hundreds of millions of shekels have been allocated to goals such as strengthening Jewish identity and heritage.
More on the same topic:
the state budget
Avi Dichter
sweet potatoes
agriculture